2017 safety belt usage survey in Kentucky.
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Summary
This report presents the findings of the 2017 statewide observational survey of safety belt usage in Kentucky, conducted by the Kentucky Transportation Center. The study aims to establish the current statewide usage rate to evaluate the impact of primary enforcement laws, education campaigns, and enforcement efforts. Since the first statewide survey in 1982, Kentucky has seen a dramatic increase in usage, driven by legislative changes from secondary to primary enforcement and sustained public information campaigns. The 2017 survey continues this long-term monitoring effort to document trends and identify areas requiring targeted intervention. The methodology involved collecting observational data at 150 sites across 15 selected counties. Counties were chosen to ensure geographic representation, with Jefferson and Fayette Counties automatically included due to their high vehicle miles traveled (VMT), while other counties were randomly selected from highway districts. Sites were stratified by road class—limited access, arterials, and local roads—with the number of sites in each county proportional to its VMT. Data collectors observed drivers and front-seat passengers for one hour per site between June and July 2017, recording belt usage status. The final statewide rate was calculated using a complex weighting procedure that accounted for VMT, selection probabilities, and road class distributions, ensuring the results accurately reflected statewide travel patterns. The survey found that the overall statewide safety belt usage rate for all front-seat occupants was 86.8 percent in 2017, a slight increase from 86.5 percent in 2016. Usage rates varied significantly by road type, with the highest compliance on limited access highways (91.7 percent) and the lowest on local roads (80.5 percent). Vehicle type also influenced usage; sport utility vehicles had the highest rate (89.9 percent), while pickup trucks had the lowest (78.8 percent). Geographic disparities were evident, with Fayette County recording the highest usage (91.0 percent) and Clay County the lowest (70.4 percent). Additionally, the survey noted that motorcycle helmet usage remained at 60 percent, and bicycle helmet usage was low at 29.4 percent, though the latter was based on a small sample size. The authors conclude that while usage rates have reached historic highs, the annual increases have slowed as the rate approaches 90 percent. They recommend maintaining current education and enforcement efforts but suggest focusing resources on counties and vehicle types with lower compliance, particularly pickup trucks. Specific policy recommendations include removing the exemption for farm vehicle occupants, adding driver points for belt violations, and increasing fines to enhance enforcement efficacy. The data supports the continued effectiveness of primary enforcement laws while highlighting the need for targeted strategies to address remaining gaps in usage.
Key finding
The statewide safety belt usage rate for all front-seat occupants in Kentucky was 86.8 percent in 2017, with pickup trucks showing the lowest compliance at 78.8 percent.
Methodology
naturalistic
Sample size: 82480
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | rosap | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-23 |
| archive | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| chunk | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 24 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: observational prevalence, crash risk outcomes