The 2016 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey: Seat Belt Report [Traffic Tech]

NHTSA · 2019 · ROSA P / United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This report presents findings from the 2016 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey (MVOSS), the seventh in a series of national surveys conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The study was motivated by the persistent issue of seat belt non-use, which accounts for nearly half of all passenger vehicle fatalities despite a decade-long decline in the proportion of unbelted fatally injured occupants. The research aimed to understand the attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge underlying these safety-related decisions. The 2016 MVOSS utilized address-based sampling to reach respondents aged 18 or older, employing a multimode design with web and paper surveys administered between June 2016 and February 2017. A random sample of 21,000 households was contacted to achieve a target of 6,000 completed surveys focused on belt use. The final sample comprised 6,009 respondents, yielding a 31% response rate. Most participants (58%) completed the survey via mail, while the remainder used desktops, smartphones, or tablets. Post-stratification adjustments were applied to ensure sample representativeness. Results indicated that 93% of drivers reported wearing seat belts “all of the time,” an increase from 88% in 2007. However, usage dropped significantly for back-seat passengers, with only 63% reporting consistent use. Discrepancies between self-reported habitual use and actual behavior were noted; while 93% claimed to always wear belts, only 79% confirmed wearing them every time they drove. Among those admitting to occasional non-use, 8% had not worn a belt in over a year, and 3% had done so within the past year. Injury avoidance was the primary reason for wearing belts (59%), whereas traveling short distances was the most common reason for non-use (37%). Attitudinal data revealed that 88% agreed they would want a seat belt on during a crash, yet 26% believed belts were as likely to harm as help, and 22% found them annoying. Additionally, 17% held fatalistic beliefs about crashes, and 18% felt self-conscious wearing belts if friends did not. Support for front-seat seat belt laws was high (94%), though support for penalties varied, with 73% favoring fines but only 28% supporting license points. The authors conclude that while most adults acknowledge the utility of seat belts, significant variations exist in usage, beliefs, and attitudes. The report acknowledges potential social desirability bias in self-reported data, though the web/mail format may have mitigated this compared to previous phone-based surveys. These findings highlight the need for further analysis of the statistical relationships among survey items to develop targeted programs promoting consistent seat belt use in all seating positions.

Key finding

Although 93% of drivers report wearing seat belts all the time, only 79% confirm wearing them on every drive, with short-distance travel being the most common reason for occasional non-use.

Methodology

survey

Sample size: 6009

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