The Impact of Texas State Legislation on the Use of Safety Belts

Abstract

Thisstudy wasasurvey on the impact of the Texassafety belt law. Observations were conducted before the law'senactment; after enactment of the law withoutpenalty fee; and onemonth and twelve months after enactment of the law with penalty fee. Results of the study indicate a significantly higher rate of safety belt compliance following the enactment of the law. Female drivers were consistently more compliant with wearing safety belts. Young male drivers were the least compliant with the new law. Rehabilitation nursessharepublic concern with this health promotion issue due to the large number of spinal c o d and head injuries which directly result from the nonuse of safety belts.he American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons reports

Reviews of evidence regarding interventions to increase the use of safety belts

“…The study population of this review consisted of individuals older than 5 years. Twelve studies 22,24,27,32,33,35,38,45,50,51,53,57 reported data for populations assumed to be aged 16 years or older (i.e., drivers, university students, employees). One study included only individuals older than 10 years 60 and another only those older than 11 years.…”

“…46 Papers excluded, limited execution quality 11 19,20,30,34,36,37,43,44,46,47,49 Qualifying papers 35 [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][31][32][33]35,38,[39][40][41][42]45,48,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64] Papers reporting on an already-included study 2 31,64 Actual number of qualifying studies 33 [21][22][23][24]…”

Seatbelt and Helmet Use and Associated Factors in a Metropolitan Area

“…Many studies have been performed to assess the use of seatbelts and related outcomes (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). It seems that several factors are associated with seatbelt and helmet use in the general public, including gender, age, passenger's status, a low level of education, ethnicity , smoking, alcohol consumption, and so on (21).…”