01657945

Component

Seatbelts when properly worn can save lives. They are designed to prevent occupants from being hitting objects within vehicles and from being ejected from vehicles in the event of a crash.Despite the proven effectiveness of seatbelts at reducing injury severities, non-compliance of use among passengers still remains a problem, especially at night. Although the factors associated with non-use of seatbelt among passengers have been widely studied, research studies documenting similar efforts at night are limited in the literature. The primary objective of this paper is to explore the factors related to passengers’ seatbelt non-use at night using a 2015-2016 longitudinal observation survey data collected in five counties in East Tennessee. Generalized Estimating Equation, a rigorous modeling technique was used for the data analysis.Estimation findings show that passengers who are more likely not to wear seatbelts at night are males, occupants traveling in passenger cars and pickup trucks, traveling during the first half of the year (January to June), late at night (after 10 pm) and on local streets. The findings also indicate that drivers have the greatest influence on their accompanying passengers’ seatbelt use. That is when drivers fail to wear seatbelts at night, their accompanying front-seat passengers are more likely to do so.The implication of this study shows that interventions are needed to convince vehicle occupants to always wear seatbelts every time they get in a vehicle. The findings in this study provide useful information to support policies regarding seatbelt use

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB45 Standing Committee on Occupant Protection. Correlates of Front-Seat Passengers’ Nonuse of Seat Belts at Night: This is an alternate title.

18-00405

English

0000-0002-0790-7794

5p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

References; Tables

Front seat occupants; Night; Passengers; Seat belt use; Traffic crashes

Tennessee

Highways; Safety and Human Factors

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-00405

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 10:07AM