Seat belts for adults in the back seat: what do Iowans think?

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Seat belts for adults in the back seat: what do Iowans think?"

Dayna Butler
6 years ago
Views:

Highway Traffic Safety Conference April 26, 2016 Corinne

1 Seat belts for adults in the back seat: what do Iowans think? Michelle Reyes Dan McGehee Dawn Marshall Iowa Governor s Highway Traffic Safety Conference April 26, 2016 Corinne Peek-Asa John Lundell Erik Skinner Iowa Social Science Research Center

Project overview Current Iowa law does not require adults in the rear seat of a vehicle to use seat belts A policy analysis and state-wide survey of an all passengers belted law

2 Project overview Current Iowa law does not require adults in the rear seat of a vehicle to use seat belts A policy analysis and state-wide survey of an all passengers belted law was conducted Literature review Policy analysis of other states safety belt laws Iowa crash data Survey of Iowans opinions about safety belts and proposed enhancements of Iowa law

Seat belts save lives Front seat belts reduce risk of fatality by 45% Rear seat belts reduce risk of fatality by 60% 70% reduction for light trucks, vans, utility vehicles Rear safety belts are

3 Seat belts save lives Front seat belts reduce risk of fatality by 45% Rear seat belts reduce risk of fatality by 60% 70% reduction for light trucks, vans, utility vehicles Rear safety belts are up to 75-90% effective in a vehicle rollover Safety advancements for the rear seat have not kept pace with front seat Rear seat is no longer the safest seating position for adults (2007 and newer)

4 Seat belts reduce injuries for all occupants Rear seat passengers are 2.7 times more likely to be killed in a crash when unbelted (Mayrose, J., et al, 2005) Belted occupants have about 5 times the risk of death and twice the risk of injury when seated between an unbelted occupant and the direction of force in a crash (MacLennan, P. A., et al. 2004)

5 Crash test video

Japanese case study Although the rear-seat

belt she was wearing, due to the force that

6 Japanese case study Although the rear-seat passenger was afflicted with only a minor injury, the front-seat passenger suffered serious abdominal injury caused by the seat belt she was wearing, due to the force that pushed her forward upon impact, plus the force from the seat back.

7 % of fatalities w/ known belt use Belt use for fatalities 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Driver Front px All rear px

8 Adult* fatalities in passenger vehicles rear seat occupants by belt status Used Unknown Not used * Includes age 18 and older, and age unknown

6, 2013 Almost 11,000 numbers attempted 40% participation when qualified

9 Opinion survey Phone survey conducted by UI Iowa Social Science Research Center Oct. 3 to Nov. 6, 2013 Almost 11,000 numbers attempted 40% participation when qualified person was reached 30% cellular, 70% random digit dial (land line) Stratified by county population 1077 complete interviews

10 70K+ 20K-50K <20K

11 100% Percent of respondents reporting they always use a seat belt as a passenger in front and rear seating positions 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Overall Low pop. Mid pop. High pop. Front seat Rear seat

12 Explain why you do not always use a seat belt when you are a passenger in the rear seat Reason given % (N) I don t know, I just don t, no real reason 12% (64) Forget: I don t think about it, don t pay attention 12% (65) Law: it s not the law, not required to, don t have to 12% (64) Not comfortable, not enough room, desire to move around 15% (82) Not important, not needed, safe enough without belts 12% (64) Riskiness of the situation (length of trip, in town, who the driver is) 11% (60)

13 Whether respondents would use a seat belt in the rear seat more often if it was required by law 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Overall Low pop. Mid pop. High pop. Yes No No answer

14 Whether respondents thought Iowa law should be changed to require rear seat passengers to use seat belts 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Overall Low pop. Mid pop. High pop. Yes No No answer

15 % who answered Yes Percent of respondents who agreed the law should be changed, by age and gender 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Female Male

16 % who answered Yes Percent of respondents who agreed the law should be changed, by population strata and gender 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Overall Low pop. Mid pop. High pop. Female Male

17 % who answered Yes Percent of respondents who agreed the law should be changed, by age and population strata 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Low pop. Mid pop. High pop.

18 Conclusions Iowans buckle up in the front seat but not the back 80% said they would use belt in back seat more often if it was the law 62% agree Iowa should have an all-passenger belted law An all-passenger law would reduce fatalities and injuries for all vehicle occupants Crude estimate of 48% reduction or 6 lives per yr for back seat occupants Additional benefit for other occupants not estimated

Understanding Traffic Data: How To Avoid Making the Wrong Turn

Traffic Records Forum 2011 Understanding Traffic Data: How To Avoid Making the Wrong Turn Presenter: Marc Starnes (202) 366-2186 marc.starnes@dot.gov August 3rd, 2011 1 Summary of Topics Police Crash Reports