Compulsory wearing of seat-belts by front-seat occupants of cars and light vans was introduced on 31 january 1983. Initially the law is in force for a three-year experimental period, at the end of which it will be reviewed. This report describes analyses of its effects on casualty frequencies during its first year of application. Series of monthly casualty frequencies from january 1979 onwards have been studied, allowance made for the existence of trends, seasonal variation, and possible relationships with traffic volume, and estimates made of whatever changes have occurred following the seat-belt law's introduction. Clear reductions are found in casualty frequencies among drivers and front-seat poassengers of cars and vans. In round terms these represent savings of about 7000 fatal or serious casualties (including around 500 fatalities) and 13000 slight casualties in the first year. There have been suggestions that wearing seat-belts could induce in drivers increased feelings of security for which they might 'compensate', at least partly, by driving more dangerously, and that such a change in behaviour would lead to more pedestrians, pedal cyclists and motorcyclists being struck by cars or vans. Analyses of casualty series for these road user groups have, so far, not found convincing evidence of such effects. (Author/publisher)
Abstract