The state department of motor vehicles reports more people are wearing seat belts on Virginia's roadways. Shirley Tucker remembers the accident that nearly took her life five years ago.

She recalls, "The gal behind me was talking on her cell phone and wasn't paying attention to traffic in front and we were all at a dead stop. She didn't know that and plowed into the back of me. Pushed me 60 feet forward into the car in front of me."

Tucker says it was the seat belt that saved her life.

She says, "I would've gone into the wind shield and instead it kept me back enough so only my knees were actually hit, when they hit the front of the car."

State Police 1st Sgt. Scott Van Lear says he's seeing that more people are remembering to buckle up.

Van Lear comments, "'Click It or Ticket' enforcement is part of the solution to that. Education is also part of the solution to that and there’s been a lot of campaigns and a lot of advertisement about the proper use of seat belts and how that’s beneficial."

Tucker says she's always enforced her own seat belt rule, and she wishes others would do the same.

"It doesn't matter if you're a guest in my home, or a family member. Everybody wears a seatbelt or they don't ride with me" says Tucker.

The DMV reports that because more people are wearing their seat belts, there have been fewer people ejected from vehicles during crashes during the past five years.