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Seat Belt Promotion in North Carolina

An Evidence-Based Practice

This practice has been Archived and is no longer maintained.

Related Promising Practices

Description

This program uses signs providing feedback to drivers in an effort to raise seat belt use. Feedback signs are placed along roads and at exits with high traffic volume. Feedback signs remind motorists about belt use and imply a stable and vigorous enforcement presence. The information on the signs changes weekly, listing the percentage of motorists using seat belts during the past week, along with the highest week of seat belt use to date. The program utilizes seat belt checkpoints held in communities on different days and times in order to create the perception of constant enforcement of seat belt law.

Goal / Mission

The goal of this program is to increase seat belt use through interactive road signs and law enforcement.

Results / Accomplishments

The program was evaluated in two communities, Asheboro (population 18,000) and Greensboro (population 183,000), North Carolina. Observed daytime driver belt use in Asheboro significantly increased from an average of 75% pre-intervention to 89% after the signs were installed (p = 0.0001). At urban sites in Greensboro, driver belt use significantly increased from 80% to 86% (p = 0.0001). Right front passenger belt use increased significantly in Asheboro (from 68% to 86%, p = 0.0001), but the increase in Greensboro was not significant (p = 0.12), which may be related to a higher baseline rate.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)

local police departments

Primary Contact

Allan Williams
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
1005 North Glebe Road
Arlington, VA22201
(703) 247-1500
publications@iihs.org
http://www.iihs.org/

Topics

Community / Public Safety
Community / Transportation

Organization(s)

local police departments

Source

Accident Analysis and Prevention

Date of publication

Nov 1996

Date of implementation

May 1995

Location

North Carolina

For more details

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9006645?itool=E...

Target Audience

Adults

Related Promising Practices

An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.