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(AP) -- SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Seat belt use has reached a record high 91.7 percent in Illinois.

The Illinois Department of Transportation said Thursday that a new statewide survey finds seat-belt use is up 15.5 percent from July 2003, when 76.2 percent of people on Illinois roadways wore seat belts. The department's Traffic Division performed the survey.

The department also says the number of traffic fatalities statewide fell 10.3 percent in the first six months of 2009, from 484 last year to 434 this year. In 2008 there were 1,043 traffic fatalities in Illinois. State officials say that in the last two years, Illinois has seen the lowest fatality numbers since 1923.

State Transportation Sec. Gary Hannig says the survey proves wearing seat belts saves lives.

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