A National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) was conducted in the Fall of 1998 to estimate safety belt and motorcycle helmet use in the United States. Previous studies were conducted in 1994 and 1996. In 1998, the overall observed safety belt use rate as measured by NOPUS, was 68.9 percent compared to 61.3 percent observed in 1996 and 58.0 percent observed in 1994. These estimates reflect statistically significant changes in belt use as shown by the 7 percent increase (from 1996 to 1998) and 11 percent increase (from 1994 to 1998). (A)
Abstract