A study released Thursday by the Japan Automobile Federation shows that 84 percent of drivers wear seat belts, an increase for the eighth consecutive year.
In the three-day nationwide study, conducted from Sept. 3 to 5, JAF staff observed 97,528 cars on 183 major roads. Drivers in 81,830 cars, or 83.9 percent, were wearing seat belts, up 1.4 percentage points from a similar study a year ago.
Drivers in Nagasaki Prefecture buckled up the most, at 94.8 percent, topping the prefectural ranking for the third straight year. Yamanashi Prefecture ranked lowest for the third year in a row, at 67.7 percent.
Meanwhile, 67.4 percent of people in the passenger seats of 9,361 cars were seen wearing seat belts, up 1.3 points for the fourth straight year.
"Since seat belts can help cushion drivers in accidents, we want to further step up our campaign for people to buckle up," a JAF official said.