IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/riskan/v12y1992i3p449-454.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Increased Auto Safety Belt Use Levels on Fatalities

Author

Listed:
  • Eric A. Latimer

Abstract

To reduce the annual toll of highway deaths, more than 30 states have passed laws mandating the use of safety belts. All have been effective at raising safety belt use; equipped with different provisions and enforced with unequal care, however, they have done so to different degrees. The article estimates the relationship between attained belt use and fatalities averted. Monthly 1982‐1986 fatality, collision, belt use, and other data from 64 areas in nine states were collected, then analyzed using a Poisson multiple regression model. The analysis indicates that an increase in belt use from 14‐40% averts about 13% of fatalities; a more pronounced increase to 50% averts about 18%. An increase from 50‐75% averts about 16% of remaining fatalities. Three significant conclusions emerge. First, previous estimates appear to have understated, in general, the overall effectiveness of belt use laws. Second, the benefits of programs to boost safety belt use in this country from its current level of about 50% to up to 75%, estimated on the basis of more direct evidence from U.S. data than previously available, appear to be very large. Third, Poisson and other multiple regression models including explicit allowance for other causal factors can usefully complement other statistical approaches in traffic safety studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric A. Latimer, 1992. "Effects of Increased Auto Safety Belt Use Levels on Fatalities," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(3), pages 449-454, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:12:y:1992:i:3:p:449-454
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1992.tb00697.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1992.tb00697.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1992.tb00697.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Latimer, E.A. & Lave, L.B., 1987. "Initial effects of the New York State auto safety belt law," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 77(2), pages 183-186.
    2. Adrian K. Lund & Paul Zador, 1984. "Mandatory Belt Use and Driver Risk Taking," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(1), pages 41-53, March.
    3. Leonard Evans, 1987. "Estimating Fatality Reductions from Increased Safety Belt Use," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(1), pages 49-57, March.
    4. Williams, A.F. & Preusser, D.F. & Blomberg, R.D. & Lund, A.K., 1987. "Seat belt use law enforcement and publicity in Elmira, New York: A reminder campaign," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 77(11), pages 1450-1451.
    5. Lund, Adrian K. & Stuster, Jack & Fleming, Anne, 1989. "Special publicity and enforcement of California's belt use law: Making a "secondary" law work," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 329-341.
    6. Evans, William N & Graham, John D, 1991. "Risk Reduction or Risk Compensation? The Case of Mandatory Safety-Belt Use Laws," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 61-73, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Grimm & Carole Treibich, 2013. "Why Do Some Bikers Wear a Helmet and Others Don't? Evidence from Delhi, India," AMSE Working Papers 1348, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France, revised 10 Oct 2013.
    2. Seres, Gyula & Balleyer, Anna Helen & Cerutti, Nicola & Danilov, Anastasia & Friedrichsen, Jana & Liu, Yiming & Süer, Müge, 2021. "Face masks increase compliance with physical distancing recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 7(2), pages 139-158.
    3. Dennis Epple & Lester B. Lave, 1988. "The Role of Insurance in Managing Natural Hazard Risks: Private Versus Social Decisions," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(3), pages 421-433, September.
    4. Antonio Nicita & Simona Benedettini, 2012. "The Costs of Avoiding Accidents.Selective Compliance and the 'Peltzman Effect' in Italy," Department of Economics University of Siena 631, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    5. Alan Woodfield, 1996. "Car Seat-Belt Regulations, Offsetting Behaviour, and Liability Rules," Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, vol. 3(4), pages 459-470.
    6. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7310 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Dee, Thomas S. & Grabowski, David C. & Morrisey, Michael A., 2005. "Graduated driver licensing and teen traffic fatalities," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 571-589, May.
    8. Djemaï, Elodie, 2009. "How do Roads Spread AIDS in Africa? A Critique of the Received Policy Wisdom," TSE Working Papers 09-120, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    9. Grimm, Michael & Treibich, Carole, 2016. "Why do some motorbike riders wear a helmet and others don’t? Evidence from Delhi, India," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 318-336.
    10. Carpenter, Christopher S. & Stehr, Mark, 2008. "The effects of mandatory seatbelt laws on seatbelt use, motor vehicle fatalities, and crash-related injuries among youths," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 642-662, May.
    11. Thomas S. Dee & William N. Evans, 2001. "Teens and Traffic Safety," NBER Chapters, in: Risky Behavior among Youths: An Economic Analysis, pages 121-166, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7315 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Elizabeth Kopits & Maureen Cropper, 2008. "Why Have Traffic Fatalities Declined in Industrialised Countries?: Implications for Pedestrians and Vehicle Occupants," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 42(1), pages 129-154, January.
    14. Seres, Gyula & Balleyer, Anna & Cerutti, Nicola & Friedrichsen, Jana & Süer, Müge, 2020. "Face mask use and physical distancing before and after mandatory masking: Evidence from public waiting lines," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economics of Change SP II 2020-305, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    15. Bae, Yong-Kyun, 2011. "Primary Seat Belt Laws and Offsetting Behavior: Empirical Evidence from Individual Accident Data," MPRA Paper 30443, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Chi, Guangqing & Porter, Jeremy R. & Cosby, Arthur G. & Levinson, David, 2013. "The impact of gasoline price changes on traffic safety: a time geography explanation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 1-11.
    17. Cano, Alexander & Cortes, Darwin & Mantilla, Cesar & Prada-Medina, Laura & Restrepo, Medardo, 2022. "The trade-off between liquidity and insurance: voucher payments in a lab-in-the-field experiment with Colombian rural workers," OSF Preprints 8ft4e, Center for Open Science.
    18. Dolan, Paul & Galizzi, Matteo M., 2015. "Like ripples on a pond: Behavioral spillovers and their implications for research and policy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-16.
    19. Anindya Sen & Brent Mizzen, 2007. "Estimating the Impact of Seat Belt Use on Traffic Fatalities: Empirical Evidence from Canada," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 33(3), pages 315-336, September.
    20. Seres, Gyula & Balleyer, Anna & Cerutti, Nicola & Friedrichsen, Jana & Süer, Müge, 2021. "Face mask use and physical distancing before and after mandatory masking: No evidence on risk compensation in public waiting lines," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 765-781.
    21. Leonard Evans & Michael C. Frick & Richard C. Schwing, 1990. "Is It Safer to Fly or Drive?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(2), pages 239-246, June.
    22. Che, Maohao & Wong, Yiik Diew & Lum, Kit Meng & Wang, Xueqin, 2021. "Interaction behaviour of active mobility users in shared space," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 52-65.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:12:y:1992:i:3:p:449-454. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1539-6924 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.