the rate of safety belt use and its associated factors in 15 to 44-years old of kerman in 2012

background and aim: more than 50% of road fatalities occur in the 15 to 44-years old which are the young and active group of the society. one of the effective ways to reduce road accidents is using safety belts. in this study the rate of seat belt use and its associated factors have been estimated in the 15 to 44-years old of kerman. materials and methods: this study was a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study performed in 2012 and on 506, 15 to 44 years old people visiting the pre-marriage consulting center in kerman. sampling was done by convenient sampling. data was analyzed by spss 16 and by using logistic regression. results: the rate of seat belt use was estimated to be %54.4. people who owned private vehicles used safety belts more than non-owners (p< 0.001). participants claimed that their own safety and preventing injury was the most important reason (59.1%) for using safety belts and forgetting due to mind occupation (33%) were the most important reasons for not using safety belts. conclusion: despite the high incidence of road accidents in iran and despite years passed the first compulsory safety belt regulation, the rate of safety belt use among the society and especially the youth (which are a high percent of the population) is still lower than other countries. these results emphasize the importance of implementing initiatives in this regard. references: 1. world health organization. injuries and violence: the facts. geneva, switzerland2010-2011. 2. puvanachandra p, hoe c, özkan t, lajunen t. burden of road traffic injuries in turkey. traffic inj prev. 2012:64-75. 3. world health organization. global statusreport on road safety. geneva, switzerland 2009. 4. soori h, nasermoadeli a, ainy e, hassani sa, mehmandar mr. association between mandatory seatbelt laws and road traffic injuries in iran. southeast asian journal of tropical medicineand public health. 2011;42(6):1540-5. 5. hasselberg m, l laflamme. road traffic injuries among young car drivers by country of origin and socioeconomic position. int j pub health.2008;53(1): 40-5. 6. koushki pa, bustan ma, kartam n. impact ofsafety belt use on road accident injury and injury type in kuwait. accid anal and prev. 2003;35(2):237-42. 7. williams af, wells jak. the role of enforcement programs in increasing seat belt use. j saf res. 2004;35(2): 175-80. 8. shults ra, beck lf. self-reported seatbelt use, united states, 2002–2010: does prevalence vary by state and type of seatbelt law? j saf res. 2012;43(5-6): 417-420. 9. routley, v.ozanne-smith, j. li, d. pattern of seat belt wearing in nanjing, china. inj prev. 2007; 13(6): 388-93. 10. puvanachandra, p.hoe, c.el-sayed, hf. road traffic injuries and data systems in egypt: addressing the challenges. traffic injury prevention.2012;13: 44-56. 11. beck lf, shults ramack ka. . associations between sociodemographics and safety belt use in states with and without primary enforcement laws. am j pub health. 2007;97(9): 16-19. 12. sedaghat m, vaghari gh, bani hashem s . the trend of using safety seat belt in golestan province from 2007 to 2010: an epidemiologic study. journal of gorgan bouyeh faculty of nursing & midwifery.2011;8(1): 59-66. 13. borghebani r, dehahgni l, khanjani n. (2013). the rate of safety belt use and some of its related factors among kerman, iran car drivers. payesh.2013;12(2):159–65. 14. bendak s. seat belt utilization in saudi arabia and its impact on road accident injuries. accid anal and prev. 2005;37(2): 367-72. 15. abiodun o, george l, abayomi o. pattern of seat belt use by drivers in trinidad and tobago, west indies. bmc research notes.2011;4(1): 1-6. 16. shimamura m, yamazaki m, fujita g. method to evaluate the effect of safety belt use by rear seat passengers on the injury severityof front seat occupants. accid anal and prev.2005;37(1): 5-18.