| Show Seat Belt Nonuse Compiled by Anthony Cooke Seat belts are estimated to save500 lives each year The most current national belt use rate is 67percent according to the Center for Disease Control In 1999 more than 60 percent of the occupants killed in fatal crashes were unrestrained Utah residents fell below the national average for nonseat belt use at 32percent compared tonational average of 32percent Data for seat belt use is collected on average every three to five years by the National Highway and Safety Administration 1999 data have been collected but were not available to report in this publication The most recent data are from 1997 with some preliminary results from 1999 Twelve States have enacted primary seat belt laws Under primary enforcement citation can be written wheneverlaw enforcement officer observes an unbelted driver or passenger The remaining 38 states including Utah have secondary enforcement laws Under secondary enforcement an officer is required to stopViolator for another infraction before issuingcitation for failure to wearsafety restraint Primary versus secondary enforcement has become an issue of debate over the last five years States with primary seat belt laws had15 percent higher seat belt use rate than those of secondary enforcement states Califomia had an 89percent seat belt usage rate Oregon an 82percent use rate and New Mexico an 88percent use rate States with primary seat belt laws typically havelower percentage of fatalities resulting from automobile crashes Both California and Oregon hadfatality percentage of2 percent compared to6 percent for Utah However New Mexico alsoprimary enforcement state hasfatality percentage of1 percent one of the highest in the nation Table 71 Seat Belt Nonuse Utah andS 1990-1997 US Low US Medum UShigh Uah Year 712 5149 610 190 720 410 40 580 1991 1992 1988 496 503 40 39 380 340 6761 330 320 596 564 1996 399 320 516 1994 1995 468 443 45 502 31326 1997 ercentage of persons who eported somelimes seldom of never usingsafety restraint Source Center for Disease Control BRFSS Online Prevalence Data Comparisor Oniine www2 cdc govineedphp Table 70 Frequency of Seat Belt Use by Age Utah andS 1997 Sometimes Toarty AWays Tays us UtahS median Utah median Utah AgeGroup USS median Utah US median BT 50 80 122 206 62 800 589 824 21 45 67 84 236 149 634 663 2534 21 35 64 75 239 139 657 695 3544 23 32 20 75 24 142 629 709 4554 13 31 82 74 199 134 684 703 5564 20 25 33 53 182 713 744 65 Source Centar for Disease Control BRFSS Oniine Prevalence Data Comparisor Online wiiw2 cdc Gov ncodpho us median 50 39 38 35 35 32 Tover Utah 33 a2 19 341 51 of Sources Center or Disease Control BRESS Oniine Prevalence Data Comparison online www2 cdc gov Utah Department Report Unpublished 1994 Health Bureau of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Systems20 990 ss-4 Survey 1986-1 Factor Risk41 1993 Center for Disease Control MMWR Behavioral 109 Digital image 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah Al rights reserved |
