Buckling Up Technologies to Increase Seat Belt Use -- Special Report 278 (2004) / Chapter Skim
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2 Seat Belt Use and Characteristics of Nonusers
2 Seat Belt Use and Characteristics of Nonusers
Pages 29-41
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From page 29... ...
This survey provides nation ally representative data on observed belt use in passenger vehicles and some demographic detail, such as belt use by race, ethnicity, and gender (Glassbrenner 2002, 13) .1 The companion Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey (MVOSS)
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From page 30... ...
In addition, the literature on seat belt use was reviewed, and interviews and focus groups were conducted by NHTSA especially for this study to explore motorists' behaviors and attitudes concerning belt use as well as reactions to seat belt use technologies.2 Estimates of Belt Use The most recent NOPUS (2002) reported a 75 percent observed national belt use rate for drivers and front-seat occupants of passenger vehicles (Glassbrenner 2002, 1)
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From page 31... ...
. Four percent of drivers reported wearing their seat belts "some of the time," while few drivers acknowledged wearing their belts "rarely" (2 percent)
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All part-time users and 67 percent of the hard-core nonusers agreed that they greatly or somewhat reduced their risk of injury by wearing a seat belt.4 (Respondents to the NHTSA interviews and focus groups were clas sified into three groups. Full-time belt users were identified as those who responded that they forgot to wear their seat belts only once or twice or never in the past month.
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From page 33... ...
For example, in briefings and correspon dence with the committee, two major suppliers of seat belts -- Breed Technologies and Autoliv North America -- noted that seat belts with height and tension adjustors and improved belt access and buckling mechanisms are already on the market. The importance of habit, situation, attitudes, and comfort for belt use is borne out by the MVOSS and the NHTSA interviews conducted for the current study.
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From page 34... ...
. A much smaller group of hard-core nonusers reported negative atti tudes toward seat belts as the primary reason for nonuse in the most recent MVOSS.
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From page 35... ...
. A North Carolina survey of seat belt use fol lowing a high-visibility "Click It or Ticket" public information and en forcement campaign found that observed unbelted drivers were more likely to be male than observed belted drivers (Reinfurt et al.
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For exam ple, telephone surveys conducted after a "Click It or Ticket" campaign in North Carolina found that college graduates were more likely to report driving belted than blue collar or service workers (Reinfurt et al.
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From page 37... ...
. A telephone interview of North Carolina motorists cited for not using seat belts found that crash rates for violators were nearly double those of a random sample of North Carolinians, and the researchers concluded that nonusers are a high-risk crash group (Williams et al.
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From page 38... ...
In North Carolina, a pri mary law state, observed belt use was significantly higher among whites than blacks before implementation of the law. Since its enactment, ob served belt use among blacks has exceeded use among whites (Reinfurt 2000 in Wells et al.
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From page 39... ...
. According to the most recent MVOSS, the percentage of Americans who thought that ticketing for seat belt nonuse was an imminent threat was significantly higher in primary law states than in secondary law states (Block 2001, ix)
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2003. Qualitative Research Regarding Attitudes Towards Four Technologies Aimed at Increasing Safety Belt Use.
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From page 41... ...
1997. Characteristics and Opinions of North Carolina Residents Cited for Not Using Seat Belts.
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