SEAT BELT USE BY POLICE: SHOULD THEY CLICK IT?

Police officers in the United States are not required and are often reluctant to wear safety belts in many localities because the belts may either adhere to equipment or delay access to guns. This article examines if there would be a significant reduction in police officer deaths if officers increased their use of seat belts. The paper reports on a retrospective study conducted on all crashes reported to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System that involved marked police vehicles in the U.S. for the years 1997-2001 and involved a death in any of the vehicles in the accident. The results indicated that the risk of death was 2.6 times higher for unbelted occupants of police vehicles that for belted occupants. In addition, seat belt use was not statistically related to emergency versus nonemergency calls.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00225282
• Corporate Authors:

  Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

  16522 Hunters Green Parkway
  Hagerstown, MD  United States  21740-2116
• Authors:
  • von Kuenssberg Jehle, D
  • Wagner, D G
  • Mayrose, J
  • Hashmi, U
• Publication Date: 2005-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 119-120
• Serial:
  • Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection and Critical Care
  • Volume: 58
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
  • ISSN: 0022-5282

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Fatalities; Police; Seat belts; Traffic crash victims
• Identifier Terms: Fatality Analysis Reporting System
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00986833
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 24 2005 12:00AM