Legislation requiring seat belts to be worn has led to major reductions in casualties in Australia. However injuries have resulted from belt slackness, from the location of buckles in the abdominal region and from webbing twist. The design changes, which have been effected to minimise the occurrence of these problems, will take many years to permeate the vehicle population and as an interim measure a television publicity campaign was conducted to encourage occupants to better adjust their belts. Three experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign are described. Using a criterion measure of change in belt adjustment observed during roadside surveys, the experiments demonstrated that .intense. exposure to television publicity over a short period achieved significant decreases in the incidences of loosely adjusted belts, the location of buckles on the abdomen, and twist in belt webbing.
Abstract