Shoulder belt use in four states with belt use laws

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Abstract

Shoulder belt use was observed before and after belt use laws went into effect in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Texas. There were large increases in belt use rates in each state in the first month the laws were enforced. In the three states in which post-law observations were made more than once, belt use declined from the levels seen in the first month; rates generally dropped to less than 50 percent. This pattern of decline from initial use rates has also been found in other jurisdictions around the world. Combined enforcement and publicity campaigns have been shown to be capable of reversing this trend and to increase use rates to 65 percent or more. Such campaigns will be needed to maximize the effect of seat belt use laws in the United States.

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Cited by (31)

  • The effects of standard enforcement on Michigan safety belt use

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    The change to standard enforcement appeared to have little differential effect on safety belt use by the type of roadway. As has been found in numerous studies (see e.g. Chatterjee et al., 1987; Eby and Kostyniuk, 1999; Eby et al., 2000c; Hamed and Easa, 1998; Lange and Voas, 1998; Ulmer et al., 1994; Williams et al., 1987), safety belt use in the present study was consistently higher for females than for males (Fig. 7). Comparing the difference between males and females before and after standard enforcement shows that after standard enforcement, the percentage point difference in safety belt use between the sexes has decreased, suggesting that standard enforcement had a greater effect on males than females.

  • Restraint use patterns for older child passengers in Michigan

    2001, Accident Analysis and Prevention
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    This lack of a sex difference shows that parents and guardians are not discriminating by sex when they decide to restrain the older child occupant. It is well documented that driving age females use safety belts much more frequently than same age males (e.g. see Williams et al., 1987; Agent, 1996; Lange and Voas, 1998; Eby et al., 2000). Thus, an interesting research question is to better understand why males, who have used restraints as frequently as females while children, choose not to use a safety belt when they are old enough to make the decision themselves.

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This work was supported by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

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