Abstract
Introduction:The purpose of this study is to examine the relevance of non-specific safety belt use data for interventions to rural teens and to pilot a data collection project to provide more specific data to traffic safety stakeholders and educators in rural areas.Methods:Twelve high schools in Southeast Georgia were used for observed safety belt data collection over a 16 month period. Observational surveys were conducted at the entrance to student parking lots of the studied schools in the morning or afternoon. Observers were trained and survey methods were standardized to maintain comparability between results.Results:Observational surveys revealed a safety belt usage rate of 38.6% among high schools teens at the studied high schools. Safety belt usage rates ranged from 9.5% to 66.9%. Observed safety belt use for female vehicle occupants was 48.4% compared to 35.6% for males.Conclusion:The observational survey results from this study support research showing that rural teens have lower safety belt usage rates than adults or urban teens. Despite efforts to target rural areas, programs must specifically target sub populations, especially rural male teens, in order to hold any traction. Because of the wide gap between measured safety belt use in rural Georgia (79.9%) and the studied rural high schools (38.6%), local program planners must assess actual safety belt usage in their high risk rural teen population in order to use accurate metrics for intervention and education efforts.
Highlights
The purpose of this study is to examine the relevance of non-specific safety belt use data for interventions to rural teens and to pilot a data collection project to provide more specific data to traffic safety stakeholders and educators in rural areas
The observational survey results from this study support research showing that rural teens have lower safety belt usage rates than adults or urban teens
Observed safety belt use for female teenage vehicle occupants was higher than males at 10 of 12 high schools participating in this study
Summary
The purpose of this study is to examine the relevance of non-specific safety belt use data for interventions to rural teens and to pilot a data collection project to provide more specific data to traffic safety stakeholders and educators in rural areas. The risk for death in a MVC is greater for rural teens. In 2009, 60% of fatal crashes and 59% of fatalities involving teen drivers occurred on rural roadways.[2] These higher rates can result from design elements including narrower lanes, soft shoulders, and tree-lined roadways, as well as behavioral factors and higher speed limits.[5,6] commuting longer distances exposes rural drivers to greater risk of crashing from drowsy driving.[7,8,9] The remoteness of rural roads can delay the detection of crashes and the administration of medical care.[8,9,10,11]
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