A seat belt promotion program was based on the previous finding (weinstein, 1984) that many people fail to take their seat belt use into account when thinking about their risk of being injured in an automobile accident. The goal of the program was to increase belt useby making the link between belt use and personal risk more salient.the program was instituted at the headquarters of a large corporation. Five weeks of baseline observations were followed by a 1-week active intervention program composed of stickers for car dashboards, permanent signs in the parking deck, and temporary signs in the cafeteria. Six weeks of posttreatment observations found that the number of people using seat belts increased 31% at one entrance and 7% at the other, with both increases statistically significant. Belt use ata control site was stable during this period. Six months following the intervention, the number of people using seat belts had climbed 61% above baseline at one entrance and 33% above baseline at the other. Interviews before and after the program did not reveal the anticipated increase in spontaneous references to seat belt use as a riskfactor for auto injury. The article examines possible reasons for the success of the intervention and for the differential impact at two parking deck entrances.(A)
Abstract