Statistical Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 207: Seat Back Locks (Only)

摘要

FMVSS 207 is a death-and-injury-reduction Standard which requires a self-locking restraining device for folding seats and seat backs, that must meet specified static load tests. The Standard became effective 1 January 1968. More than 600,000 cases of driver involvement in frontal collisions were analyzed using mass accident data from Texas (1972-1974), New York (1974) and North Carolina (1973-1975). Contingency table data were subjected to log-linear modeling and adjustment to minimize potential confound effects and allow direct comparison of injury rates between drivers of 2-door and 4-door cars. The results of the analyses do not support the hypothesis that the introduction of seat back locks in 2-door passenger cars reduces the injury risk to drivers in these cars. While the analysis was not completely successful in removing all confounding effects, it can be inferred that the effect of seat back locks on driver injury risk, if any, is small and very difficult to quantify, given the potential for confounding effects from the implementation of other Standards and the possible interactive effects between vehicle body style and weight and driver characteristics. The question of possible rear seat occupant entrapment in accidents involving fire and/or explosion or immersion was very clearly settled by the analysis of FARS data.