Congress requested that the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies conduct a study to examine the potential benefits and public acceptability of technologies to boost seat belt use, such as reminder systems that exceed regulatory requirements. Under the auspices of the Transportation Research Board, the NRC convened an expert committee to carry out the study, which was funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The committee's findings and recommendations, published in Special Report 278, "Buckling Up: Technologies to Increase Seat Belt Use," include legislative and regulatory actions to enable installation of effective and acceptable new belt use reminder technologies in passenger vehicles. This article provides an overview of the report and briefly summarizes the committee's recommendations.
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