Citation

Bergan AT, Watson LG, Rivett DE. Transp. Res. Rec. 1980; 782: 16-21.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1980, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The results of five surveys conducted in Saskatchewan to determine rates of safety-belt use are summarized. On July 1, 1977, legislation was passed requiring all front-seat occupants of motor vehicles to use the available safety restraints. The survey results indicate the changes in rates of safety-belt use from May 1977, the period just before the law was passed (when there was an intensive campaign to educate the public to the use of safety belts), to May 1979, two years after enactment of the law. Information was gathered on various driver, vehicle, restraint-system, and trip characteristics to determine what relations exist between these characteristics and safety-belt use. Among the characteristics considered were driver age and sex, educational level, level of driver education, frequency of safety-belt use, accident experience, and number of miles driven per year; roadway speed limit; length of trip; and vehicle size, model, and year of manufacture. Rates of safety-belt use were higher for various conditions, including drivers between the ages of 26 and 36; male drivers; drivers with a high school education or better; and compact, foreign-made, and/or newer vehicles. It was found that, since the passage of the safety-belt law, injury and fatality rates have decreased in the province even though total accidents and miles driven per year have increased.