Gebruik van beveiligingsmiddelen in 1997 : gordels, kinderzitjes en hoofdsteunen in personenauto's en gordels in bestelauto's. Onderzoek in opdracht van het Directoraat-Generaal Rijkswaterstaat, Adviesdienst Verkeer en Vervoer AVV.

The SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research frequently conducts surveys on the presence and use of seat belts by drivers and passengers of passenger cars. Initially only seat belts on the front seats were the subject of these studies. With obligatory use of seat belts in the back seats in view, over the years the surveys were extended to that subject and also to child restraint systems. In 1995, the survey was extended to the proper adjustment of head rests by drivers and front-seat passengers. This study incorporates a new element: the presence and use of seat belts by drivers and front-seat passengers in vans. The study also discusses the developments in actual and pretended behaviour in the use of seat belts and child restraint systems. Data were gathered in actual traffic by observations at traffic lights on several road types, and by inquiring a part of the observed drivers and passengers. The main conclusions of the survey are that since 1995: (1) the seat belt use by drivers and front-seat passengers did not actually change; (2) the seat belt use by back-seat passengers has raised considerably; (3) the use of child restraint systems is still high, and has even increased to a certain extent; and (4) the proper use of head rests is worsening.