What
is the Mission of the Occupant Protection Division?
The mission of Occupant Protection
Division is to provide national leadership in planning and developing
traffic injury control programs in the areas of safety belt and child
safety seat use, and automatic occupant protection systems (e.g. airbags).
What's
new in the Occupant Protection?
Motor Vehicle Occupant Protection Facts-Children, Youth and Young Adults (posted 09/27/2004)
Thousands of youth continue to die or experience serious injuries that could have been prevented had they been properly restrained. This booklet provides information that supports the ongoing need for legislative, enforcement, education, and public awareness activities promoting occupant protection for youth.
Rural Pickup Truck Drivers and Safety Belt Use:Focus Group Report
This technical report summarizes a series of eight focus groups conducted with male pickup truck drivers from rural areas in Georgia, Michigan, Montana and Texas, including a Hispanic group in Texas. Suggestions for messages and material development are provided for Hispanic and non-Hispanic audiences. Background information on belt use rates, laws, and fatality rates among pickup truck drivers are summarized and existing campaigns are reviewed.
States with Primary Safety
Belt Laws
As of July 2004, 21 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico
have primary safety belt laws. New Hamphire is the only state that has
no adult safety belt law.
Buckle Up America - Safety Belts and Rural Communities (posted 05-28-04)
Rural Americans face greater risk of being injured or killed in a traffic crash than those who live and commute in urban areas. The facts are: only 21 percent of the population live in rural areas in this country, yet 39.5 percent of the total vehicle miles traveled are on rural roads. In 2002, rural traffic crashes accounted for 60 percent of the total fatalities on our Nation’s highways.1
Misuse
of Child Restraints (posted 2/04/04)
This report presents the
results of a study that measured the current level of misuse of child restraint
systems among the general public. The project focused specifically on forms
of misuse that can be expected to raise the risk of injury to a child in
the event of a crash. The study collected data on 5,527 children under
80 lbs in six States.
May
2003
Click It or Ticket
Safety Belt
Mobilization
Evaluation
Final
Report
(posted 02-05-04)
Click it or Ticket (CIOT) is an intense, short
duration, safety belt paid advertising and high visibility enforcement
program. The CIOT May 2003 Mobilization involved
nearly $25 million dollars of purchased media. Law enforcement agencies in 44 of 45 states reported issuing
more than 500,000 belt use citations during a two-week period beginning
on May 19th and ending on June 1st. June, 2003 observations as compared
with 2002 indicated increased belt use among front seat occupants of passenger
vehicles in 40 states and the District of Columbia.
Economic
Burden of Traffic Crashes on Employers – Costs by State and Industry,
and by Alcohol and Restraint Use (posted
1-15-04)
Employers pay for injuries that occur on- and off-the-job. The report
provides employers with the specific costs of motor vehicle crash injuries
by state and by industry type and includes estimates of alcohol involvement
and restraint non-use. Motor vehicle crash injuries on- and off-the-job
cost employers about $60 billion annually in 1998-2000. Off-the-job
injuries to workers and their dependents represent one-third of those
costs. Although motor vehicle injury costs to employers vary widely
by state and industry, this report demonstrates that increasing restraint
use and reducing alcohol impaired driving have the potential for significant
cost savings. This report updates the national estimates of employer
costs of crashes presented in NHTSA's 1996 report “What Do Traffic
Crashes Cost? Total Cost to Employers by State and Industry.”
Link to Buckle
Up America Site.
Buckle Up America Organization
is operated for NHTSA by the Academy for Education Development. This
site contains tools to support the Buckle Up America campaign
including program planners, Click newsletter, talking points
creator and research.
|
