In EU (European Union) countries, car occupants represent over 45% of all road deaths (European Commission, 2015). Wearing a seat belt is one of the most effective measures that can substantially reduce the risk for serious crash-related injuries and or the number of persons killed on the road. The risk of a fatal accident decreases by 40% for adult passengers in front of the vehicle, by 30 to 45% for adult passengers in the back and by about 40 to 50% for children seated in an appropriate child restraint system (CRS) (Glassbrenner & Starnes, 2009; SWOV, 2012). A seat belt is accessible to all the car passengers as it does not require any special technology and is fitted in all cars (European Commission, 2014). A child restraint system combines a seat, fixed to the structure of the vehicle by appropriate means, and a safety belt for which at least one anchorage point is located on the seat structure. Failure to use seat belts and child restraints are two of the five key behavioural risk factors affecting road injuries and fatalities to be tackled according to the Global status report on road safety 2015 (WHO, 2015). ’Failure to wear a seat belt is the 2nd main killer on the road, after speeding but ahead of drink-driving (European Commission, 2014)’. The European transport safety council (ETSC) estimates that across the EU, 8,600 car occupants survived serious collisions in 2012 because they wore a seat belt. 900 additional lives would have been saved if 99% of the passengers were wearing a seat belt when the crash happened (ETSC, 2014). The effectiveness of child restraints varies by type of restraint. Rear-facing restraints for 0-4 year old children have been shown to reduce the risk of severe injuries or fatality by 90% compared to being unrestrained. Forward facing child restraints reduce the risk of injury by 55% (Elvik, 2009). Since 1991, wearing a seat belt in the EU is mandatory by law for all car passengers (Directive 91/ 671/EEC). However, the date of application of the law varies from one European country to another (e.g. in Greece it became compulsory in 2003). The use of restraint systems specially adapted to the size and weight of children became compulsory in 2003 (Directive 2003/20/EC). Wearing rates vary widely in EU Member States, and they are usually higher in front seats. Values for front seat occupants typically range between 70% and nearly 100%, while on rear seats the range is between 23% in Greece and 97% in Germany (IRTAD/ITF, 2015). A 2015 survey on attitudes carried out in seven European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain, and The UK) concluded that more than one-in-three people in Europe still do not wear a seat belt in the rear seats of a car (The pan-European survey, 2015). SARTRE3 (2004) concluded that seat belt use rates were too low in many countries (especially in built-up areas). In addition, too many drivers underestimated the benefits of wearing belts if one drives carefully. Since SARTRE3, there is a lack of comparable data cross Europe on road safety attitudes concerning the use of seat belts. The last figures for CRS date from 2009 (SARTRE4, 2012). This thematic ESRA report aims at filling this gap by providing information on the attitudes and opinions of road users in 17 European countries on use of seat belts and child restraint systems. The ESRA project (European Survey of Road users’ safety Attitudes) is a joint initiative of research organisations and road safety institutes in 17 European countries aiming at collecting comparable (inter)national data on road users’ opinions, attitudes and behaviour with respect to road traffic risks. The project was funded by the partners’ own resources. The first ESRA survey was conducted online using representative samples (at least N=1,000) of the national adult populations in 17 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, United Kingdom). A common questionnaire (see Appendix - ESRA 2015 Questionnaire) was developed and translated into 20 different country-language versions. The subjects covered a range of subjects, including the attitudes towards unsafe traffic behaviour, self-declared (unsafe) behaviour in traffic, and support for road safety policy measures – overall over 222 variables. The ESRA questionnaire was inspired by the previous European project, SARTRE, and also includes some questions of the AAAFTS-survey (USA) ‘Traffic Safety Culture Index’, which enables tentative comparisons with these projects. Data collection took place simultaneously in all countries in June/July 2015. A Belgian polling agency coordinated the field work to guarantee a uniform sampling procedure and methodology. In total, data from more than 17,000 road users (of which 11,000 frequent car drivers) were collected. Hence, the ESRA survey produced a very rich dataset. Seven institutes – BRSI (BE), KFV (AT), NTUA (EL), CTL (IT), ITS (PL), PRP (PT), BFU (CH) – combined their expertise to analyse the common data and to disseminate the results. The results of the 2015 survey are published in a Main report and six thematic reports: *Speeding *Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs *Distraction and fatigue *Seat belt and child restraint systems *Subjective safety and risk perception *Enforcement and support for road safety policy measures There are also 17 country fact sheets in which the main results per country are compared with an European average. An overview of the project and the results are available on www.esranet.eu. The present report summarizes the ESRA-results with respect to seat belt and CRS. An overview of the data collection method and the sample per country can be found in the Main report. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting