Citation

Reinfurt DW, St Cyr CL, Hunter WW. Proc. Assoc. Adv. Automot. Med. Annu. Conf. 1990; 34: 163-179.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examined seat belt usage by drivers of 4151 late model cars in North Carolina equipped with a variety of restraint system types. Of special interest was the usage of shoulder and/or lap belts for both motorized and non-motorized automatic seat belt systems. For comparison purposes, data were also collected on usage rates for three-point manual systems. Usage rates are provided by restraint type (automatic belt, air bag, manual belt), by make/model and by driver characteristics (age, sex and race). Highest usage rates (79.6%) were found for automatic belts followed by traditional manual belts (76.3%) and restraints provided in air bag-equipped cars (73.9%). Although the shoulder belt was utilized in 94.2 percent of the motorized belt cars such as the Ford Temp and Toyota Camry, the accompanying lap belt was fastened in only 28.6% of these vehicles. Among the automatic belt systems, the non-motorized automatic lap/shoulder combination, such as used by General Motors and Honda, was the least frequently utilized (76.9%). Misuse of the shoulder belt (e.g., excessive slack, detached from the door, placed under the arm) was found in nearly six percent of the sample. As a result of this survey along with one conducted by the US DOT, it would appear that increased public information and education concerning these new restraint systems is warranted.