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...

BACKGROUND The effects of seat belt laws and public education campaigns on seat belt use are assessed on the basis of observational or self-reported data on seat belt use. Previous studies focusing on front seat occupants have shown that self-reports indicate a greater seat belt usage than observational findings. Whether this over-reporting in self reports applies to rear seat belt usage, and t...

The Engineering Meetings Board has approved this paper for publication. It has successfully completed SAE's peer review process under the supervision of the session organizer. This process requires a minimum of three (3) reviews by industry experts. Positions and opinions advanced in this paper are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of SAE. The author is solely responsible for the...

Seat belt interaction with a far-side occupant's shoulder and thorax is critical to governing excursion towards the struck-side of the vehicle in side impact. In this study, occupant-to-belt interaction was simulated using a modified MADYMO human model and finite element belts. Quasi-static tests with volunteers and dynamic sled tests with PMHS and WorldSID were used for model validation and co...

BACKGROUND Safety belt use is 80% nationally, yet only 63% in Massachusetts. Safety belt use among potentially at-risk groups in Boston is unknown. We sought to assess the prevalence and correlates of belt non-use among emergency department (ED) patients in Boston. METHODS A cross-sectional survey with systematic sampling was conducted on non-urgent ED patients age > or = 18. A closed-ended s...

OBJECTIVES Traffic crashes are a leading cause of deaths and injuries in Pakistan. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 30,131 people die in road crashes annually on Pakistani roads (WHO 2013). The use of seat belts can be effective in reducing road crash fatalities in Pakistan but under existing seat belt laws, seat belt use is mandatory only for drivers and is limi...

Front-seat safety belt use in the United States (US) was 80 percent in June, 2004. This rate represents the highest ever for the US, but indicates that there is still a sizable minority of people who do not always use safety belts despite mandatory seat belt laws in all but one state. Changing the behavior of these people will require new and innovative countermeasures. Little research has syst...

OBJECTIVE Injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) are a major challenge to the Jamaican healthcare system. In November 1999, Jamaica enacted legislation to make seat belt usage in motor vehicles compulsory. The effect of this policy change on seat belt usage is unclear. This study therefore sought to determine the prevalence of seat belt usage and to determine the association betwe...