SAFETY BELTS, AIRBAGS AND CHILD RESTRAINTS. RESEARCH TO ADDRESS EMERGING POLICY QUESTIONS

Although many policy decisions regarding occupant restraints have been made--the passive restraint requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 (FMVSS 208) are being phased in, and most states now have mandatory safety belt use laws--important policy questions remain. The research identified in this report can improve the quality of public policy and ultimately result in fewer deaths and injuries resulting from highway crashes. In response to the changes under way in occupant restraint policy at the federal and state level, the Transportation Research Board funded a pilot effort to identify emerging policy issues and make recommendations for research. The committee formed to oversee this study identified many issues and unanswered questions. Research needed to address the most urgent of these questions is identified in the executive summary at the beginning of this report. Subsequent chapters are: (1) Introduction; (2) Mandatory Safety Belt Use Laws; (3) Methods for Increasing Restraint Use; (4) Alternate Occupant Restraint Designs; (5) Medical and Biomechanical Aspects; and (6) Economic Considerations. Appendix A lists the reviewers for the Draft Report, and Appendix B presents the calculation of expected benefits of mandatory use laws.

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• Publication Date: 1989

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 77 p.
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 224
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0360-859X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air bags; Biophysics; Child restraint systems; Design; Diseases and medical conditions; Economics; Injuries; Laws; Manual safety belts; Passive restraint systems; Public policy; Recommendations; Research; Restraint systems; Utilization
• Old TRIS Terms: Occupant restraint
• Subject Areas: Design; Economics; Highways; Law; Policy; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I10: Economics and Administration; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00488079
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0-309-04755-2
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-040 860
• Files: HSL, TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Sep 30 1991 12:00AM