Introduction

This report presents the results of a statewide telephone survey conducted in Fall 2001. The objectives were to assess public awareness and knowledge of the law, attitudes and behaviors related to seat belt and child safety seat use, and perceptions of enforcement and other efforts to increase compliance. The survey was also conducted to measure exposure to messages about seat belt use over the past two years, identify the most frequent sources of this information, and determine the extent to which New York State drivers are familiar with New York's high visibility seat belt enforcement and public awareness campaign, Buckle Up New York.

The questionnaire was developed by the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research (ITSMR), in consultation with the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee. The sample was comprised of 805 New York State licensed drivers; the sample was stratified to reflect the proportion of licensed drivers residing in each of the state's 62 counties. Telephone numbers used in the sampling were generated by random-digit dialing. The samples of African Americans and Hispanics were increased to permit analyses by race/ethnicity.

Results

Reported Seat Belt Use

A major objective of the survey was to determine self-reported behaviors related to seat belt use.

	85% said that they always wear their seat belt and another 11 % wear their belts most of the time. Compared with previous surveys, 85% is the highest reported use rate to date.
	28% of the respondents who now always wear their seat belts said that they are now using seat belts more frequently than two years ago, while 71 % said that their current use is about the same as two years ago.
	88% of the women compared to 81 % of the men reported that they always wear their seat belt. The frequency of reported seat belt use and the respondents' comparison with their use two years ago did not differ significantly by age or region.
	While the frequency of seat belt use did not differ significantly by race/ethnic group, there were significant differences by race/ethnicity when respondents were asked to compare their current use with their frequency of use two years ago. 44% of Hispanics and 37% of African Americans are now wearing their seat belts more often, compared to 26% of the White respondents.
	Those respondents who said they do not use their seat belts all the time were asked whether certain penalties or disincentives would influence them to buckle up more frequently. 29% said that increasing the fine would have an effect on their seat belt use; 70% of these drivers said that the fine would have to be at least $100. 48% said they would be influenced to wear their seat belt all the time if they knew they would receive penalty points on their license, and 46% said that being charged higher insurance premiums would get them to buckle up all the time.

Knowledge and Perceptions of Seat Belt Enforcement

New York's seat belt law allows primary enforcement and seat belt checkpoints and other high-visibility enforcement efforts are part of the State's successful Buckle Up New York campaign. Questions relating to perceptions of enforcement were included to permit evaluation of the program's effectiveness.

	Respondents were asked under what circumstances the police could issue a ticket for driving without a seat belt. 83% were aware that the police could issue them a ticket whenever they are not wearing a seat belt. 9% incorrectly answered that a seat belt ticket could only be issued when a driver has been stopped for something else. Knowledge of the law did not differ by gender, age, region, or race/ethnic group.
	46% thought that the police would give them a ticket every time they were stopped while driving without a seat belt; 29% thought they would get a ticket almost every time, and 15% thought they would get a ticket only once in a while. Women were more likely than men to think they would get a ticket every time they were stopped.
	The majority of respondents (61%) thought that there had been an increase in seat belt enforcement over the past two years, while 28% thought the level had stayed the same. The perception of enforcement today versus two years ago did not differ by gender, age group, regions, or racial/ethnic groups.
	56% reported that they had gone through a seat belt checkpoint within the past two years. Of those who had not experienced a checkpoint first hand, 39% were aware that the police were conducting these enforcement activities.
	Drivers from the Upstate region (63%) were much more likely than drivers from Long Island (49%) or New York City (48%) to have gone through a seat belt checkpoint in the past two years. Among drivers who had not experienced a checkpoint, Upstate drivers were also much more likely to be aware of these enforcement activities.
	There were no statistically significant differences by race/ethnicity in either awareness or personal experience with seat belt checkpoints.

Awareness of Issues Relating to Seat Belts and Child Safety Seats

An important objective of the telephone survey was to assess the effectiveness of New York's public information and education efforts to raise awareness of the importance of seat belt and child safety seat use and increase compliance with the law.

	Two-thirds of the drivers think that seat belts are a very effective safety device, and another 27% believe that they are somewhat effective in preventing serious injuries or death in a crash.
	97% rated the use of child safety seats for children under four years of age as very important.
	84% of the respondents said that they had seen, read, or heard something about seat belts or child safety seats in the past two years. Some respondents mentioned multiple sources; 64% said that had heard about occupant restraints on television, and 43% mentioned newspapers.
	Women (88%) were more likely than men (79%) to say they had seen, read, or heard information about occupant restraints in the past two years.
	Respondents from New York City (78%) were less likely than those from the Upstate region (87%) or Long Island (85%) to say they had seen, read, or heard information about using seat belts or child safety seats in the past two years.
	African American (87%) and White (85%) respondents were more likely than Hispanic respondents (76%) to indicate that they had seen, read or heard information about using seat belts and child safety seats in the past two years.
	Respondents were asked if they were aware of the specific program, Buckle Up New York. Seven out of ten respondents indicated that they had seen, read, or heard about the Buckle Up program.
	The level of awareness differed by race/ethnic group with White drivers (72%) and African American drivers (70%) more likely to have heard of the Buckle Up New York program than Hispanic drivers (62%).

Child Passenger Safety

A final series of questions focused on awareness, perceptions and behaviors related to the use of child safety seats and booster seats.

	45% of the survey sample indicated that one or more children under age four are passengers in their vehicle at least occasionally. Follow-up questions were directed to this subsample of drivers; 92% of these drivers indicated that the children under four are always restrained when riding with them, and 97% said that these young passengers usually ride in the back seat, as is recommended for children under age 12.
	Approximately half of the respondents indicated that children ages four to eight are passengers in their vehicles at least occasionally. 93% of the drivers in this subsample indicated that these children are always restrained when riding with them.
	74% of these respondents indicated that children in this age group use seat belts when riding in their vehicles, 15% use booster seats, and 12% are still in a child safety seat. As with the younger children, children in the four to eight age group usually ride in the back seat, according to 94% of the respondents.
	Of those who indicated that children under eight years of age rode with them at least once a month, nearly one out of ten had had their child safety seat checked by a qualified technician. No differences were found by the gender, age, region, or race/ethnicity of the respondents.
	More than three-quarters of the respondents who transport children have seen or heard about booster seats.