P olicy measures, including legislation, are one method of promoting health. Participation in many voluntary health promoting behaviours is strongly socioeconomically patterned, and this may also apply to behaviours governed by legislation. Rear passenger seat belt use is one legally prescribed behaviour—having been made compulsory in the UK in 1991. Previous research on the socioeconomic distr...

4) The entire class of seat belt-related flexion-distraction injuries to the spine are commonly referred to as ‘Chance-type’ fractures. These fractures are caused by hyperflexion around a lap belt, with the belt acting as a fulcrum. This mechanism of hyperflexion and distraction would also explain the frequent association of intraabdominal injuries as viscera are crushed between the lap belt an...

To assess the efficacy of occupant protection systems, the authors measured the mortality reduction associated with air bag deployment and seat belt use for drivers involved in head-on passenger car collisions in the United States. They used a matched case-control design of all head-on collisions involving two passenger cars reported to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System in 1992-1997, and d...

The use of restraints in motor vehicles is less common in minority and low-income populations than in the general population. A preliminary survey of Hispanic preschool-aged children in west Dallas, Tex, conducted in 1997 showed much lower child restraint use (19% of those surveyed) than among preschool children of all races in the rest of the city (62%). Because there are few reports of succes...

OBJECTIVES Seat-belt wearing rates in the North reflect workers in the oil industry, necessitating sociocultural descriptions on the issue. The objective of this study was to describe how the social context influences oil workers' views of risk and seat-belt wearing behaviour in northern Alberta. STUDY DESIGN The study design was qualitative research. Focus groups were held with oil workers i...

Airbags have saved an estimated 2620 lives as of November 1997. However, airbags also have caused a number of injuries and deaths and have received a lot of publicity from the NHTSA and the media as a result. The majority of the injuries have occurred when seat belts and shoulder harnesses were not used properly in conjunction with airbags. This article describes an injury that apparently occur...

PROBLEM This study aimed to provide an assessment of the contribution of design to the occurrence of fatal work-related injuries in Australia. METHODS The Australian National Coroners' Information System was the data source for fatal injuries. Deaths resulting from workplace injuries on or between 1 July 2000 and 30 June 2002 were included. RESULTS Seventy seven (37%) of the 210 identified ...

OBJECTIVE Many modern cars have seat belt reminders (SBRs) using loud and clear sound and light signals. These systems have developed over the last few years. This study investigates how these modern systems influence the seat belt use in real-life traffic in built-up areas in some European cities. METHODS The data were collected by field observations in major cities in six European countries...

OBJECTIVE Estimates of any protective effect of seat belts could be exaggerated if some crash survivors falsely claimed to police that they were belted in order to avoid a fine. The aim of this study was to determine whether estimates of seat belt effectiveness differed when based on belt use as recorded by the police and belt use determined by trained crash investigators. DESIGN Matched coho...

There is an odd coexistence between two conflicting safety policies that may well be pursued by the same accident prevention agency. The first seeks to improve safety by alleviating the consequences of risky behaviour. It may take the form of seat belt installation and wearing, airbags, crashworthy vehicle design, or forgiving roads (collapsible lamp posts and barriers). This policy oVers forgi...