Ninety five percent: An evaluation of law, policy, and programs to promote seat belt use in Washington state

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2004.03.008Get rights and content

Abstract

Seat belt use in Washington state was 83% in 2001. In 2002, a series of law, policy, and program initiatives coalesced to produce a dramatic increase in seat belt use. Washington enacted a primary enforcement seat belt, the Chief of the Washington State Patrol made safety belt enforcement one of the core missions of that agency, and Washington participated in the national Memorial Day Click It or Ticket program during May 2002 and continued the program into 2003. Evaluation of these initiatives was accomplished through observation surveys of seat belt use, analysis of seat belt violation data, and analysis of data on traffic deaths of motor vehicle occupants. The major findings were that there was a two- to three-fold increase in enforcement of the seat belt law, belt use rates increased to 93% in 2002 and again to 95% in 2003, and motor-vehicle occupant fatalities decreased by 13%.

Impact on Practice and Policy: The primary seat belt law and Click It or Ticket program activities were critical factors in increasing belt use in Washington state. Media and enforcement programs targeting seat belt use can be very effective in raising the belt use rate, but a long-term commitment to continuation of these program activities is essential. Other states implementing new primary seat belt laws should consider delivering a Click It or Ticket campaign prior to the effective date of the primary law and continuing these activities during subsequent months and years.

Introduction

Washington state enacted a “secondary” enforcement seat belt law in 1986. This secondary provision allows police to cite drivers only if they have first committed another violation. It sends a mixed message to police (i.e., that seat belt use is important enough to be mandatory, but not important enough to be directly enforceable).

The first statewide observation survey of seat belt use (conducted in 1986 prior to implementation of the law) found a 36% use rate. Since then, annual observation surveys have shown fairly consistent increases in the use rate. Belt use more than doubled, reaching 80% in 1995. This increase was primarily attributable to education and training of police officers on the safety benefits of seat belts, modest increases in enforcement of the belt law, and public information/education programs. Washington state received recognition for high performance under a secondary law. However, between 1995 and 2001 further progress proved to be elusive. Observed belt use was 83% in 2001.

In 2002, a series of law, policy, and program initiatives coalesced to produce a dramatic increase in seat belt use. These included the following:

  • 1.

    Washington enacted a primary enforcement seat belt law with an effective date of June 13, 2002.

  • 2.

    The Chief of the Washington State Patrol made safety belt enforcement one of the four core missions of that agency.

  • 3.

    Washington participated in the national Memorial Day Click It or Ticket program during May–June 2002, and continued Click It or Ticket efforts into the summer months of 2002 and again in 2003.

The strategy of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) leading up to the primary law, the Memorial Day 2002 Click It or Ticket campaign, and subsequent activity revolved around the following:

  • 1.

    Exploit the earned media opportunity created by passage of the primary safety belt law.

  • 2.

    Use paid advertising to bring a strong enforcement message to the public.

  • 3.

    Localize the message to the greatest extent possible (local police chiefs and sheriffs acted as spokespersons).

  • 4.

    Use paid overtime to support large-scale enforcement of seat belt violations.

  • 5.

    Insure that the enforcement is highly visible, so that public perception validates what is heard in the advertising.

  • 6.

    Insure that the public's actual experience with enforcement has enough impact to result in “word of mouth” communication among would-be violators.

  • 7.

    Use highway signs to support the enforcement and media efforts.

  • 8.

    Maintain the media/enforcement pressure long enough for seat belt use to become habitual.

Click It or Ticket project activities for the 2002 Memorial Day national effort included a major public information/education effort and the mobilization of police agencies to increase enforcement of the seat belt law. Close to a half-million dollars ($450,000) were allocated to paid media announcements informing the public of the new primary seat belt law and that the police would be actively enforcing the law. The paid media made strong use of radio messages, supported by television advertising. The paid media also produced more than double the exposure of the message through earned media (i.e., radio talk shows, and newspaper articles and editorials).

An additional $450,000 was used to pay for police overtime that was dedicated to seat belt enforcement. Participating agencies included the Washington State Patrol and about one-third of county sheriff and city police agencies. Anecdotal reports indicate that it was impossible to drive on Washington highways during late May and early June 2002 without seeing a police vehicle and, typically, an officer in the process of issuing a traffic citation. Overtime funding purchased more than 1,000 hours of law enforcement with 36,441 contacts—resulting in over 6,000 seat belt and child safety seat citations issued.

Washington state continued to pursue the Click It or Ticket campaign past the end of the Memorial Day 2002 national effort. This was aimed at highlighting the June 13th effective date of the new primary belt law and maintaining a high level of enforcement. The results of previous “wave” enforcement actions led us to expect a peak of belt usage followed by a fallback to a lower level as enforcement eased. We deliberately sought to avoid this through additional programs that were implemented over the next few months. These programs were highway signs, incentives to police to encourage continued enforcement of the belt law, an additional Click It or Ticket campaign at the end of the summer 2002, and another Memorial Day campaign in 2003.

During the summer of 2002, approximately 650 roadway signs were installed on state highways, county roads, and city streets displaying the message: “SEAT BELTS MUST BE WORN - $86 FINE-CLICK IT OR TICKET!” Fluorescent yellow was used for the Click It or Ticket line of the message and was extremely eye-catching. These signs were modified in 2003 to reflect an increase in the fine amount to $101.

The WTSC had previously installed highway signs during implementation of the state's 0.08 BAC/DUI law in 1998. Those signs proved to be highly effective in bringing a safety message to the public because of the lack of competing messages and the fact that the message was seen frequently by motorists.

The second program, aimed at keeping enforcement activity at a high level following the Memorial Day Click It or Ticket campaign, was an incentive program that ran throughout the summer of 2002. It recognized individual law enforcement officers and police agencies that continued to emphasize belt enforcement. Of more importance, the intent of this program was to encourage that safety belt enforcement be part of the standard work plans of police agencies statewide. Since the State Patrol was already fully committed, the incentives were not desired by that organization.

Incentive awards were given to motivate and recognize individual law enforcement officers who made safety belt enforcement part of their everyday work. Officers who wrote 40 safety belt citations were recognized with a 1:24 scale-model police car custom painted to match the officer's own car. The value of the model car award was equivalent to that of a typical award plaque. The program was structured on the number of working days during the summer-time period for the average officer with the expectation of one seat belt ticket per day. The intent of this program was to make seat belt enforcement a habitual part of an officer's normal work duties. Formal participation by an agency was not required, just individual officer effort. The incentive was effective: 325 awards were earned, resulting in over 13,000 enforcement actions. Officers were not allowed to gain award recognition for patrols done on Click It or Ticket overtime, only activity on routine patrol shifts qualified. The program was specifically intended to reach officers in smaller towns and counties.

An incentive was also offered to police agencies in order to motivate police management to make seat belt enforcement an agency priority. Agencies were able to earn a $1,000 traffic safety grant by taking 100 belt enforcement actions. This resulted in grant awards of $140,000 to 60 agencies. Again, this was intended to encourage enforcement in rural areas where usage rates have been historically lower.

A second Click It or Ticket media and enforcement project was conducted in late August and early September of 2002 coinciding with Labor Day and continued through the opening weeks of school. The Labor Day Click It or Ticket project was about half the size of the Memorial Day project ($550,000 vs. $900,000) and included both public information and seat belt enforcement components. The primary advertising medium was radio.

Another wave of Click It or Ticket media and enforcement activity was conducted during May/June of 2003. This effort was somewhat scaled down from the 2002 Memorial Day project ($750,000 vs. $900,000, of which $300,000 was for paid media and $450,000 was for overtime enforcement). About the same number of citations were issued during the 2003 campaign compared to the 2002 Click It or Ticket program. However, this enforcement was focused on an “unbelted” population that was half the size of the previous years since we had converted about 50% of the non-belt users during the prior year. We are seeing an ever-increasing pressure on a smaller and smaller violator pool.

In early 2003, a citizen's initiative was circulated that aimed to repeal the primary belt law. This initiative effort fostered a great deal of news coverage of the issues surrounding seat belts and kept the issue before the public. The news media was very interested in the “model car” incentive from the previous summer, so there was extensive public discussion of this program. The initiative sponsors were unable to obtain sufficient signatures to place the measure on the ballot.

Also during 2003, several trial courts found that the state's seat belt was vague in that it makes reference to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208. The findings arose out of felony prosecutions that were based on discoveries made after seat belt violators were stopped. The cases are being appealed by the state and court action is expected in 2004. Again, the news media was very interested in the seat belt issue and there has been extensive news media coverage of the court cases, again keeping the issue before the public.

Finally, on July 1, 2003, the state increased traffic fines across the board. The seat belt fine was increased to $101. While the traffic fine increase was little noticed by the general public, the WTSC exploited this opportunity by changing all of the highway signs and insuring news coverage of the change.

Evaluation of the primary law and Click It or Ticket initiatives was accomplished through observation surveys of seat belt use, data on seat belt violations/convictions, and data on traffic deaths of motor-vehicle occupants.

Two statewide surveys of belt use were conducted in 2002: the first in early June prior to the effective date of the primary seat belt law, and the second in September coinciding with the Labor Day Click It or Ticket project. One statewide survey was conducted in August 2003. The Memorial Day 2002 Click It or Ticket campaign included a series of seven small-sample surveys of belt use (mini-surveys) that corresponded to different phases of the project. Four mini-surveys were conducted during the 2003 Memorial Day Click It or Ticket campaign.

Seat belt violation data were obtained from the Washington Department of Licensing. These data were monthly counts of convictions and bail forfeitures for seat belt traffic infractions reported by the courts to the Department of Licensing.

The traffic fatality data were obtained from the Washington State Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and consisted of monthly counts of the numbers of motor-vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes.

Section snippets

Survey methods

The statewide observation surveys were based on a probability sample of 402 roadway sites in 19 counties, while the mini-surveys used a convenience sample of 40 sites in five counties. The design and methodology for the statewide surveys comply with 1998 NHTSA rules for seat belt observation survey methodology.

Seat belt use rates from click it or ticket mini-surveys

Seat belt use rates from the 2002 Memorial Day Click It or Ticket mini-surveys are shown in Table 1. The number of observations in these surveys ranged from about 5,500 to 6,000. Rates were calculated as simple ratios of belted occupants divided by total occupants observed.

The rates were consistent at about 80% to 81% for the baseline and media phases of the project. For comparison, the rate for the same 40 sites in the 2001 statewide survey was 81.4%. During the enforcement phase, belt use

Discussion

Seat belt use in Washington state, as measured by statewide observation surveys, increased by 12 percentage points between 2001 and 2003, reaching the highest level in the country at 95%. It is very likely that this increase is attributable to the combined effects of the primary seat belt law and Click It or Ticket program activities. Support for this assertion is provided by the results of the mini-surveys from the 2002 Click It or Ticket project.

The baseline rate for seat belt use was 81% in

Conclusions—impact on practice and policy

Media and enforcement programs targeting seat belt use can be very effective in raising the belt use rate, but a long-term commitment to continuation of these program activities is essential.

The primary seat belt law was a critical factor in increasing belt use in Washington state. The baseline use rate in Washington was higher than it has been in other states that have adopted primary laws. This would suggest that increases in belt use associated with primary laws are obtainable regardless of

Acknowledgements

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission would like to recognize the important contributions made to the success of the Washington state program by Maury Hannigan (retired Commissioner, California Highway Patrol) and Chuck Hurley (National Safety Council).

References (3)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

View full text