At the request of the French Ministry of Transport, INRETS-LESCO has undertaken a study on the feasibility of a follow-up survey on seat belt use in private cars. Technical improvements of protective devices together with compulsory belt wearing result in an increased belt wearing rate, but concurrently the related constraint and discomfort may either stop people using safety belts or induce them to use them incorrectly. The aim of this study is to work out a survey which ascertains the relationships between belt use and the technical developments of safety equipment, the evolution of regulations, individual behaviour, and expressed or subjective discomfort. A survey procedure has been proposed and tested with car occupants interviewed in gas stations. It associates the observation of belt wearing before arrival at the station with a detailed observation of equipment use completed with an identification questionnaire. The preliminary survey has identified the influence on belt wearing of factors such as type of road, travel distance, seat occupied in the car, and car occupant's sex. This survey particularly brings out the importance of discomfort and the ignorance of possible device adjustments, and also, in some cases, the discrepancy between vehicle type, protective device and car occupant.
Abstract