A groundbreaking study conducted by researchers at Meharry Medical College has been credited with bringing about a rise in seat belt use among African Americans. The seat-belt compliance rate among African Americans has jumped to 77 percent-two percent higher than the national average, according to a March 2003 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report. As recently as 1996, the seat- belt compliance rate among this group was at 51 percent. This low compliance rate prompted Meharry, a traditionally African-American educational institution in Nashville, to conduct a study on African Americans and seat belt use. The resulting report, published in 1999, had a significant impact on researchers and policymakers. At the release of NHTSA's March 2003 report, a NHTSA official attributed the rise in seat belt use among African Americans to the Meharry study and to the Blue Ribbon Panel, a companion study conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
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