Transport Canada's Surveys of Seat Belt Use in Canada, 2004-2005

NHTSA · 2006 · ROSA P / Canada. Transport Canada

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Summary

This report presents the findings of Transport Canada’s observational surveys on seat belt usage conducted in 2004 and 2005. These surveys were part of the National Occupant Restraint Program (NORP), a component of Road Safety Vision 2010, which aims to achieve a 95% seat belt usage rate among all motor vehicle occupants by 2010. The study was designed to measure compliance rates separately in rural and urban communities to inform strategies for reducing road casualties. The methodology involved daylight observational surveys of light-duty vehicles, including passenger cars, pickup trucks, minivans, and SUVs. The rural survey, conducted in September 2004, observed 58,743 occupants across 252 sites in towns with populations between 1,000 and 10,000 outside census metropolitan areas. The urban survey, conducted in September 2005, observed 118,226 occupants across 263 sites in communities with populations over 10,000 or within census metropolitan areas. In total, 176,969 occupants were observed at 515 sites nationwide. The results indicated a national seat belt usage rate of 90.5%, representing an approximate 4 percentage point increase from the 2002–2003 surveys. Usage was higher in urban communities (91.1%) than in rural ones (86.9%). Significant disparities were found based on vehicle type, with pickup truck occupants showing the lowest compliance rates (84.8% nationally, 79.9% in rural areas) compared to passenger cars and minivans/SUVs (91.9% nationally). Gender analysis revealed that female drivers wore seat belts more frequently (93.9%) than male drivers (89.8%), a trend consistent across vehicle types and most jurisdictions. Additionally, usage rates increased with driver age, ranging from 87.0% for drivers under 25 to 92.1% for those 50 and older. Back seat occupants demonstrated lower compliance (84.9%) than front seat occupants (90.5%). Provincial data showed that Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia generally met or exceeded national averages, while Atlantic provinces and territories often fell below. The report concludes that Canada is making progress toward the 95% target set by Road Safety Vision 2010. The data provides a basis for developing measures to further increase seat belt usage, particularly among pickup truck drivers, younger drivers, and back seat occupants. The findings support the NORP Task Force’s efforts to reduce casualties associated with restraint non-use and rural roadway crashes.

Key finding

The national seat belt usage rate for light-duty vehicle occupants in Canada was 90.5%, with urban communities at 91.1% and rural communities at 86.9%.

Methodology

field_study

Sample size: 176969

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

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence