Person, time, and place predictors of seat belt use in Athens, Greece. Hellenic Road Traffic Police Department.

In terms of the eVectiveness at the total population level, seat belts represent the front line of passive safety against death and serious injuries from passenger car crashes. They reduce by about 50% the risk of death and serious injury for car occupants; this knowledge, however, is not promptly translated into action and the frequency of seat belt use in the European Union member states varies considerably. 2 Greece has one of the highest death rates from motor vehicle crashes among all European Union member states, as well as an increasing trend over time but seat belt use is still very low. Virtually, all cars in Greece are equipped with three point seatbelts (lap/shoulder) in the front seats, but less than half of cars currently in circulation have seat belts in the back seats. In a recent investigation, it was estimated that more than 300 deaths from passenger car accidents could be avoided, if all Greeks wore a seat belt. In the lack of a formal monitoring system of seat belt use, we attempted to estimate the prevalence of seat belt use in the urban Greater Athens area (3.5 million people) and to determine associated demographic characteristics. Most roads in this area are heavy traYc, low speed roads, but it is under these conditions that seat belt use conveys maximum protection. Methods During July and August 1996, teams of one interviewer from the Centre for Research and Prevention among the Young (CEREPRI) and a road traYc policeman randomly stopped some 1400 passenger cars, in 10 sites of randomly selected secondary roads, one site in each of five systematically selected main road arteries and five sites in the principal highways linking the capital of Athens with the rest of the country. This scheme is a reasonable approximation to random sampling, given the different traYc density in the road system of Metropolitan Athens. The policemen stopped the car and subsequently, the interviewer inspected the car restraint availability and use and recorded basic demographic variables, date, and time of the day (8 am to 8 pm) or night (8 pm to 2 am). There were no refusals and the short inspection and interview ended with advice about the substantial health benefits imparted by the regular use of car restraints. Children younger than 12 years were excluded from the analysis. Each person was assigned into one of three categories: seat belt used; seat belt available but not used; and seat belt not available. Cross classification tabulations were produced by place, time, and personal characteristics and subsequently, the data were modelled through multiple logistic regression. Because many cars in Greece are not provided with rear seat belts, and—even if available—rear seat passengers rarely use them, modelling was restricted to front seat occupants for whom a seat belt was available.