Roadway incidents involving motorized vehicles accounted for 24% of fatal occupational injuries in the United States during 2013 and were the leading cause of fatal injuries among workers.* In 2013, workers' compensation costs for serious, nonfatal injuries among work-related roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicles were estimated at $2.96 billion.(†) Seat belt use is a proven method...

PROBLEM Motor vehicle crashes kill more adolescents in the United States than any other cause, and often the teen is not wearing a seat belt. METHODS Using data from the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys from 38 states, we examined teens' self-reported seat belt use while riding as a passenger and identified individual characteristics and environmental factors associated with always wearing a ...

This paper investigates the effects of mandatory seat belt laws on driver behavior and traffic fatalities. Using a unique panel data set on seat belt usage in all U.S. jurisdictions, we analyze how such laws, by influencing seat belt use, affect the incidence of traffic fatalities. Allowing for the endogeneity of seat belt usage, we find that such usage decreases overall traffic fatalities. The...

Backgrounds and Objectives: Using seat belt has a considerable role in reducing human damage. The aim of this study was to compare trend of seat belt use rate during 4 years, from 2007 to 2010, in Golestan province (northern Iran). Materials and Methods: This was a population-based cross-sectional study that enrolled 3999 subjects aged 15-65 years during four years (2007 = 1000 cases, 2008 = 10...

OBJECTIVE To increase teen seat belt use among drivers at a rural high school by implementing the Drive Alive Pilot Program (DAPP), a theory-driven intervention built on highway safety best practices. METHODS The first component of the program was 20 observational teen seat belt surveys conducted by volunteer students in a high school parking lot over a 38-month period before and after the mo...

OBJECTIVE Enhanced seat belt reminders in automobiles have been shown to increase belt use rates by approximately 3 percentage points. The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of enhanced seat belt reminders on driver fatality risk. METHOD Data included all passenger vehicle driver deaths and vehicle registration counts in the United States for calendar years 2000-2007. Driver f...

Seat belt legislation appears to have reduced mortality from, and the incidence of, serious head and facial injuries due to motor vehicle accidents. The use of seat belts has, however, also modified injury patterns in car occupants involved in accidents. This review traces the introduction of seat belt legislation and delineates the types of injury which have been attributed to seat belt wearing.

OBJECTIVES The objective was to determine the association between the abdominal seat belt sign and intra-abdominal injuries (IAIs) in children presenting to emergency departments with blunt torso trauma after motor vehicle collisions (MVCs). METHODS This was a planned subgroup analysis of prospective data from a multicenter cohort study of children with blunt torso trauma after MVCs. Patient ...

This study examined the psychosocial and behavioral correlates of seat-belt use among 1,728 10th-graders in four Northern California high schools. Parent and friend seat-belt use patterns were most highly correlated with student seat-belt use (r = 0.66 and r = 0.61, respectively) and together accounted for 46% of the variation in use. These relationships held across differences in sex, ethnicit...

This paper investigates the effects of mandatory seat belt laws on driver behavior and traffic fatalities. Using a unique panel data set on seat belt usage rates in all U.S. jurisdictions, we analyze how such laws, by influencing seat belt use, affect traffic fatalities. Controlling for the endogeneity of seat belt usage, we find that it decreases overall traffic fatalities. The magnitude of th...