1979 Survey of Public Perceptions on Highway Safety

NHTSA · 1979 · ROSA P / United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This 1979 report by Teknekron Research, commissioned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), examines public perceptions of highway safety, specifically focusing on safety belt usage, attitudes toward automatic restraint systems, and support for occupant restraint legislation. The study was motivated by the low voluntary adoption of safety belts despite their recognized efficacy and the impending federal mandate requiring new automobiles to be equipped with either airbags or automatic belts starting in 1982. The research relied on survey data from licensed drivers, utilizing self-reported metrics for belt usage frequency, reasons for non-compliance, risk perceptions, and opinions on various legislative and technological countermeasures. The survey also collected data on demographic factors, regional differences, accident history, and perceived control over driving accidents to analyze correlations with safety behaviors and attitudes. The findings reveal a significant disconnect between perceived utility and actual behavior. While 86.1% of respondents believed safety belts were likely to prevent serious injury, only 23.7% reported wearing them "always or almost always," whereas 49.9% reported never or almost never using them. The primary barriers to usage were cited as bother, discomfort, and inconvenience, rather than doubt about efficacy. Usage patterns varied by region, with Western drivers reporting higher usage rates, and by driving habits, as those frequently driving on 55 mph highways were less likely to wear belts. Notably, belt usage did not correlate with perceived risk or past accident involvement, suggesting many drivers do not view driving as a high-risk activity. Regarding automatic restraints, 50.7% of drivers preferred airbags over automatic belts, despite the higher cost. However, public understanding of airbag mechanics was poor, with 55.6% incorrectly believing a lap belt was unnecessary when airbags were present. The study concludes that public support for legislation is strong but segmented. An overwhelming 84% favored laws requiring safety seats for children under five, while support for general safety belt laws for all adults was lower at 52%. Support for restraint laws correlated positively with current belt usage frequency and negatively with the driver’s perceived control over accidents. Interestingly, drivers with more accident histories were less supportive of restraint legislation, potentially indicating a reckless attitude rather than a learned appreciation for safety. The report suggests that future public education efforts should focus on associating belt usage with safe driving practices in high-risk situations and improving public understanding of how automatic restraint systems function.

Key finding

Drivers who reported frequent safety belt usage were significantly more likely to support mandatory safety belt legislation and endorse automatic restraint systems compared to infrequent users.

Methodology

survey

Sample size: 1500

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• seat belt use
• child passenger safety

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence