Year 1 of the Washington Nighttime Seat Belt Enforcement Program. Traffic Tech, Technology Transfer Series, Number 396

摘要

As seat belt use has increased, the strong suspicion has arisen that residual drivers who resist buckling up are different from those who have responded to laws, enforcement, and education by becoming regular belt users. It has been suspected that the unbuckled are more likely to be driving at night, to drive after drinking, and to be worse drivers in terms of crash and violation history than drivers who wear their seat belts. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) joined together to conduct a high-visibility nighttime seat belt enforcement (NTSBE) program in Washington State to investigate these questions. WTSC's program follows the basic Click It or Ticket (CIOT) model--highly visible enforcement combined with paid and earned media about the enforcement and evaluation. The emphasis occurred during nighttime to address nighttime crash problems.