Author: Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Automobiles
Languages : en
Pages : 4
Book Description
Mandatory Seat Belt Use Law Public Opinion Survey
Author: Standard Enforcement Saves Lives
Author: Task Force Report on Mandatory Safety Belt Usage Laws
Author: C. LivingstonSafety Belt Usage Attitude Study
Author: William Byrant WilsonPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Automobiles
Languages : en
Pages : 108
Book Description
Seat Belt Use Laws: the Influence of Data on Public Opinion
Author: Anna P. Schenck1998 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey: Seatbelt report
Author: Alan W. BlockPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Automobiles
Languages : en
Pages : 236
Book Description
Effectiveness of Safety Belt Usage Laws. Final Report
Author: Franklin G. FisherBuckling Up
Author: Publisher: Transportation Research Board
ISBN: 0309085934
Category : Automobiles
Languages : en
Pages : 117
Book Description
Increasing seat belt use is one of the most effective and least costly ways of reducing the lives lost and injuries incurred on the nation's highways each year, yet about one in four drivers and front-seat passengers continues to ride unbuckled. The Transportation Research Board, in response to a congressional request for a study to examine the potential of in-vehicle technologies to increase belt use, formed a panel of 12 experts having expertise in the areas of automotive engineering, design, and regulation; traffic safety and injury prevention; human factors; survey research methods; economics; and technology education and consumer interest. This panel, named the Committee for the Safety Belt Technology Study, examined the potential benefits of technologies designed to increase belt use, determined how drivers view the acceptability of the technologies, and considered whether legislative or regulatory actions are necessary to enable their installation on passenger vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the study sponsor, funded and conducted interviews and focus groups of samples of different belt user groups to learn more about the potential effectiveness and acceptability of technologies ranging from seat belt reminder systems to more aggressive interlock systems, and provided the information collected to the study committee. The committee also supplemented its expertise by holding its second meeting in Dearborn, Michigan, where it met in proprietary sessions with several of the major automobile manufacturers, a key supplier, and a small business inventor of a shifter interlock system to learn of planned new seat belt use technologies as well as about company data concerning their effectiveness and acceptability. The committee's findings and recommendations are presented in this five-chapter report.
The Constitutionality of Mandatory Seat Belt Laws
Author: Mark L. BoozPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Automobiles
Languages : en
Pages : 56
Book Description
Low seat belt usage rates have persisted for years despite efforts to educate people about belts' benefits. There is ample documentation of the contribution of seat belts to saving lives and reducing injury. The emotional and pecuniary toll of the failure to use belts is enormous, yet of little effect in modifying people's behavior. Involuntary measures seem to be the only effective solution to the problem of misperceptions about belts' effectiveness and ingrained attitudes which resist education. Compulsory belt use laws have been successful in other countries, and since 1984 have been considered by the Department of Transportation to be a viable alternative to passive restraints. The possibility of the widespread adoption of mandatory belt use laws has again raised questions about the legitimacy of such self-protective legislation. A similar debate spawned many court cases 15-20 years ago when mandatory motorcycle helmet use laws were passed. Many of the arguments made then are relevant to the seat belt issue. The basic question remains: Are the devices effective enough and is the public interest in protecting the individual strong enough to warrant the intrusion on privacy? The answer must consider that driving takes place in a public arena. Further, studies indicate a substantial correlation between seat belt use and the protection of life and health. A case can be made for many third party effects and social costs of accidents, so this matter involves more than a mere question of the individual right of privacy. Given the traditional deference of the courts to state legislatures in the area of highway safety regulation, mandatory seat belt use laws may well pass constitutional challenges. Various legal theories support this conclusion. The right to travel is subject to reasonable regulation. A law applicable to all automobiles can hardly be described as discriminatory, thus dismissing equal protection objections. As long as there is no substantial interference with interstate travel and there are tangible "local" benefits, the flow of commerce is not impermissibly restricted. The volume of statistics supporting belts' efficacy constitute a reasonable means of serving a legitimate state interest in public health and welfare. They may well pass a more rigorous standard, and amount to a real and substantial relation between the law and its objective. The due process challenge thus being satisfied, the remaining question becomes one of a policy choice for the legislature about the desirability of this means over other alternatives.
Estimated Safety Belt Use Rates Under Primary and Secondary Enforcement Statutes
Author: Charles B. StokePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Automobiles
Languages : en
Pages : 38
Book Description
The Virginia Transportation Research Council was requested by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles to estimate the changes in statewide safety belt use that would occur if the state were to modify its current mandatory use law (HUL) to permit primary enforcement. In carrying out the project, a literature review and a review of all state HUL statutes were conducted. In addition, three sources of data (two national and one state) were used to identify whether there were variations in the rates of safety belt use and the factors influencing any differences found. Several factors relevant to safety belt use were identified. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia have an MUL, and 9 provide for primary enforcement. It was found that belt use was generally greater in states with primary enforcement. In addition, belt use was higher in localities with both an active public information campaign and an active enforcement effort. Finally, there was a large increase in belt use by front seat occupants in Virginia after passage of the HUL, whereas belt use by rear seat occupants dropped dramatically during the same period. It was concluded that either of two actions would result in a 6 to 8 percentage point Increase in the statewide belt use rate. These two actions are (1) modify the current MUL to provide for primary enforcement, or (2) amend the current HUL to apply to both front and rear seat occupants. Either change would result in a rise to a rate of approximately 62% from the current rate of 54%.