Researchers at Miami University say 71 percent of pickup drivers wore seat belts last year, compared with 83 percent of those who drive cars.

Seat belt sse also varies by age, race, gender and location, according to the study, which relied on retired State Highway Patrol troopers recording seat-belt use by observing 22,873 drivers and passengers at intersections and highway ramps in 53 Ohio counties.

The 2007 Observational Survey of Safety Belt Use in Ohio also shows that:

Black drivers and passengers wore belts 74 percent of the time; whites, 82 percent.

Males wore seat belts 78 percent of the time; females, 86 percent.

Drivers and passengers 15 to 25 years old wore belts 76 percent of the time; those 25 to 64, 82 percent; and those 65 or older, 88 percent.

Drivers and passengers in southwestern and central Ohio wear seat belts more often than those in other parts of the state. Drivers in southeastern Ohio wore them the least.

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, 15,523 people killed in traffic crashes nationwide in 2006 were not wearing belts. That compares with 12,618 people who wore belts and were killed.

In all, 63 percent of pickup drivers who were killed in crashes were not wearing belts -- the highest percentage of any group.