1 / 31

Seat Belt Use: New Research Findings on Driver Behavior and Motivations

This study explores the findings on seat belt usage, driver behavior, and motivations based on new research. It includes statistics on seat belt use rates, seat belt violations, and the impact of driver education and parent involvement.

xexilia
Download Presentation

Seat Belt Use: New Research Findings on Driver Behavior and Motivations

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Safety Belt Use: New Research Findings about Driver Behavior and Motivations Helmut Schneider, Bill Black, Emily Pfetzer McDowell Porter, Jeff Dickey, Buster McKenzie

  2. Belt Use 2017 Use rate 86% on Local Roads 2017 Use Rate 89 on Interstates

  3. 4 Group Seat Belt Use Model 10-13% 2-5% 82-86%

  4. Drivers By Number of Recorded Violations (0 to 16)

  5. Number of Seat Belt Violations By Gender

  6. Killed and Injured Drivers With Prior Seat Belt Violation

  7. Adult Seat Belt Citations For All Parishes Between 33% and 45% of drivers not wearing a seat belt had received a ticket by 2015.

  8. Rate of Seat Belt Tickets by Driver Age & License Age

  9. Belt Use of Front-Seat Passengers by Parish: 2013-2015 Surveys Pickup Trucks All Passenger Vehicles

  10. Belt Use of Drivers by Ethnicity and Parish:2013-2015 Surveys Black/African American White/Caucasien

  11. Belt Use of Drivers by Gender and Parish:2013-2015 Surveys Male Female

  12. Spatial Pattern of Seat Belt Use in Crashes • Several distinct patterns emerge: • There is a broad section of the middle of the state which is characterized by the lowest seat belt usage • Urban areas generally have rates in the upper tiers

  13. Examination of Three Primary Constructs • After extensive literature review of a wide range of studies of SB usage and examining the results of the preliminary studies, three constructs emerged as foundational elements of our study: • SB Motivations: • the internal and external forces that influence Sb usage • SB Routine: • the process by which individuals fasten their seat belt, which is a critical step in developing a habit of seat belt use • SB as a Habit: • The routinization of SB use to an automatic behavior which is most associated with 100% SB use

  14. Depicting the SB Routine • The SB routine used in this study is a sequential process • best portrayed as a cumulative percentage (i.e., at each stage it is the percentage of drivers having fastened their SB by that stage • For example: • A little over 30% of LA drivers fasten their seat belts immediately upon getting in the vehicle • Yet about 20% have not fastened their SB before putting the car in gear

  15. 2b. Habit and SB Use • Habit -- when a routine becomes automatic, performed outside of conscious awareness. Best characterized due to its lack of awareness surrounding the performance of the act itself. • While repeated performance markedly facilitates formation of a habit, it must be reinforced by motivations as well • A composite measure of habit was formed combining 2 questions: • “It’s a habit" and "Something I do automatically” • Three categories were formed: • Definite habit: 64.5% • Mixed habit: 21.9% • Not a habit: 13.6%

  16. Relationship of Habit To SB Routine • Habit is manifested in the SB routine, with those drivers viewing SB use as “Definitely a Habit” also exhibiting the most defined routine Before putting the car in gear

  17. Final 4 SB Groups • Contrasting SB use and motivations resulted in 4 groups representing the spectrum of SB users • Groups 1 and 3: • Same motivational profile (Absolutely HaveTo/WantTo), but differ in SB usage vs Mixed) • Groups 2 and 4: • Same motivational profile (Mixed HaveTo/WantTo), but Group 2 is 100% SB user and Group 4 is not 100% Belt Use <100%

  18. Profiling the SB Groups – SB Routine • The final profiling characteristic is SB routine, which reinforces the differences between groups in a similar manner to habit

  19. Comparing the 4 SB Groups -- Ethnicity

  20. Comparing the 4 SB Groups – Vehicle Type

  21. Comparing the 4 SB Groups – Vehicle Age

  22. Comparing the 4 SB Groups – Beliefs About Obeying

  23. Exceptions By Seat Belt Group • The first task is to examine these exceptions across the two groups • Only the first three exceptions differed between the groups with Group 4 always having a high level of mentions

  24. Examining Separate Exceptions • The five exceptions with the highest level of mentions are now examined to assess what differences can be found for those drivers holding each exception • The exceptions are: • SB Are Uncomfortable or Too Confining and Tighten Unexpectedly • What's Going To Happen Will Happen, SB or Not • I Don't Want To Get Trapped • Driving in Larger/Heavier Vehicle Makes Me Feel Safer • Know People Who Do Not Wear SB

  25. Examining Individual Situations • The five situations with the highest level of mentions are now examined to assess what differences can be found for those drivers holding each exception • The exceptions are: • Short Trips To Local Shops • When You Are In A Rush • On Rural Roads • Feel Angry Or Upset About Something • When Other People Are In The Car and No One Puts On A SB

  26. Impact of Driver Education • For each SB-related Behavior and Belief, the incremental increase was found for each step in driver education

  27. Impact of Parent Involvement • In a manner similar to driver education, the impact of parent involvement was assessed on the SB-related beliefs and behaviors • The values below indicate the increase in each behavior or belief between those respondents indicating their parent was involved (i.e., “Parent taught me to do it”) and those without this influence.

  28. Overall Insights • Lower seat belt use in the middle section of the state • Internal (Want To) and external (Have To) motivations, in combination, are highly associated with 100% seat belt use • Habit and its behavioral manifestation of seat belt routine, when at high levels, are the best correlate with 100% seat belt use

  29. New Drivers • Drivers starting at a younger age (e.g., 15) seem to have better seat belt usage behaviors when measured by seat belt violations • Driver education by itself is not particularly impactful, but when focused on seat belt use can have substantial impact • Involvement of parents has potentially one of the strongest impacts on developing good seat belt practices

  30. Recommendations • Instilling habits among young drivers has the best chance of increasing seat belt use in the long run • Put more emphasis on seat belt use in driver education • Treat seat belt use violations as seriously as other moving violations especially for drivers <18

  31. 4 Group Seat Belt Use Model • Enforcement has its limitations, especially for Group 4 • The generalized effects of demographics are less substantial than those of motivations, beliefs and attitudes. • Among the non-100% drivers, a substantial majority (about 80%) can identify an exception and/or situation which leads to decreased seat belt use • Group 3 most consistent path to increased use is habit and routine • Group 4 drivers requiring more targeted messages concerning specific beliefs 10-13% 2-5% 82-86%

More Related