Increasing safety belt use through an incentive program : final report.

This project demonstrates the use of modest economic incentives to increase seat belt usage. Even though the wearing of safety belts is the single most cost effective remmendy for highway deaths, recent research has shown that less than 11 percent of the American driving population regularly buckles up. Educational campaigns by themselves have generally had little impact. The approach to increasing belt use described in this report is based on the well established learning principle that smaller, more frequent rewards (in this case, cash) can more succesfully modify behavior than less frequent albeit greater rewards (greater protection in the event of a crash). The approach is tested at two sites in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (The Chapel Hill Senio High School (N=1100 students, faculty and staff) and the State headquarters for Blue Cross and Blue Shield, a large insurance underwriter (N=1300). At both locations, baseline shoulder belt observations were made over a period of several months, followed by a period of announced belt use monitoring, an educational phase of 3-4 weeks, a month long incentive phase, and follow-up observations in the absence of any promotional activities. During the incentive phase, a sample of cars was randomly stopped each day while entering/exiting parking areas, and coupons redeemable for $5 were awarded to all belted occupants in the vehicles. As a result of these efforts, shoulder belt usage rates at the high school rose from a baseline average of 20 percent to 34 percent during the eductional phase, 53 percent during the incentive phase, and dropping back to 36 percent during the follow-up. The belt use percentages for BCBS were 8 percent baseline, 28 percent education, 56 percent incentive, and 25 percent follow-up. When an estimate of overall restraint use (lap/shoulder belt plus lap belt only) was calculated, incentive phase values for both locations peaked at around 70 percent. The fact that observed safety belt wearing increases aming the two populations studied.