Safety restraint use in Virginia : use rate trends from 1983 through 1995.

Stoke, Charles B · 1996 · ROSA P / Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC)

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Summary

This report analyzes trends in safety restraint use in Virginia from 1983 to 1995, evaluating the impact of legislative mandates on compliance rates. The study was motivated by the limited success of prior public education and enforcement campaigns, which had failed to significantly increase belt usage. Specifically, it examines the effects of two statutes: a child safety seat law effective January 1, 1983, and a mandatory use law (MUL) for front-seat occupants effective January 1, 1988. The research aims to identify trends and opportunities for highway safety administrators by reviewing longitudinal survey data. The methodology involved analyzing observational survey data collected annually at signalized intersections and, later, randomly selected sites statewide. Data were categorized by locality (metropolitan, non-metropolitan, and statewide), seat position (front and rear), and occupant age (infants under 4, pre-adults 4–16, and adults 16+). Due to changes in federal funding requirements (shifting from § 402 to § 153 of ISTEA), data collection protocols varied; notably, rear-seat data were not collected after 1992, and age-specific data were not collected after 1992. The analysis compared pre-law baselines with post-implementation rates to assess statutory effectiveness. The findings indicate that legislation significantly increased restraint use among targeted populations. Following the 1983 child safety seat law, infant restraint use increased substantially and remained relatively high, peaking at 92.6% in metropolitan areas in 1991. The 1988 MUL caused a sharp increase in front-seat belt use, rising approximately 30 percentage points statewide immediately after implementation. Metropolitan front-seat use peaked at 73.7% in 1994. In contrast, rear-seat occupant use remained low and largely unaffected by the MUL, with statewide rates hovering around 33% in 1987 and showing minimal change through 1992. Rear-seat adult use was particularly low, never exceeding 18% in metropolitan areas and dropping to 4% in non-metropolitan areas in 1990. Additionally, belt use was consistently higher in metropolitan areas than in non-metropolitan regions. The study concludes that while the child safety seat law and the front-seat MUL were effective for their target groups, rear-seat restraint use remains critically low. The author argues that education and engineering efforts alone have had limited impact compared to legislative mandates. Consequently, the report recommends that the Virginia General Assembly enact a statute mandating safety belt use for rear-seat passengers to enhance the lifesaving potential of restraint systems.

Key finding

The mandatory use law for front seat occupants increased their belt usage by approximately 30 percentage points, creating a persistent gap where front seat use remained nearly 30 points higher than rear seat use annually.

Methodology

naturalistic

Provenance

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Topics

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• seat belt use
• child passenger safety

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence