Restraint Use (Seat Belt and Child Passenger Seat) Survey

In Arizona, lack of restraint usage (seat belts and child passenger seats) was a contributing factor to an average of 687 fatalities per year which is nearly 60% of total fatalities. These tragic statistics could be dramatically decreased if effective strategies and educational messages encouraged more people to buckle up. Due to the great opportunity to save lives, increasing restraint usage has been identified as one of five key emphasis areas of Arizona’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan. Arizona has seen a restraint usage rate of approximately 80% for the last several years as reported through the annual National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS). Although there is a good understanding of the reported seat belt usage, there is not a good understanding of who is not using seat belts and why. To develop effective strategies and education messages to improve seat belt usage, there needs to be a better understanding of these factors. The objectives of this research were to 1) conduct a survey to identify why (or why not) people in Arizona use seat belts and 2) develop criteria and provide recommendations on the most effective means to get drivers to buckle up.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.azdot.gov/ADOTLibrary/publications/project_reports/PDF/AZ670.pdf
• Corporate Authors:

  Behavior Research Center, Incorporated

  45 E Monterey Way
  Phoenix, AZ  United States  85012

  Arizona Department of Transportation

  206 South 17th Avenue
  Phoenix, AZ  United States  85007

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Hernandez, Bruce
• Publication Date: 2008-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 34p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Child restraint systems; Fatalities; Recommendations; Seat belt use; Seat belts; Strategic planning; Surveys; Traffic safety education
• Identifier Terms: National Occupant Protection Use Survey
• Geographic Terms: Arizona
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01122951
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-AZ-08-670
• Contract Numbers: SPR-PL-1-(73) 670
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Mar 3 2009 12:17PM