Understanding and Reducing Inconsistency in Seatbelt‐Use Decisions: Findings from a Cardinal Decision Issue Perspective

Abstract

This article has two aims. The first is to present results that partly explain why some automobile drivers choose to use their seatbelts only part time, thereby exposing themselves to unnecessary risk. The second is to offer and illustrate the "cardinal decision issue perspective"((1)) as a tool for guiding research and development efforts that focus on complex real-life decision behaviors that can entail wide varieties of risk, including but not limited to inconsistent seatbelt use. Each of 24 young male participants drove an instrumented vehicle equipped to record continuously seatbelt use as well as other driving data. After all trips were finished, each participant completed an interview designed to reconstruct how he made randomly selected seatbelt-use decisions under specified conditions. The interview also examined whether and how drivers established "decision policies" regarding seatbelt use. Such policies were good predictors of inconsistent seatbelt use. Drivers who had previously adopted policies calling for consistent seatbelt use were significantly more likely than others to actually drive belted. Meta-decisions about seatbelt policy adoption appeared to rest on factors such as whether the driver had ever been asked to consider selecting a policy. Whether a driver made an ad hoc, on-the-spot seatbelt-use decision was associated with a perceived need to make such a decision. Finally, participants with full-time policies were especially likely to deploy their seatbelts by default, without recognizing the need to decide about belt use on a trip-by-trip basis. We end with recommendations for reducing inconsistencies in seatbelt use in actual practice.

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“…With regards to individual crash factors, this research reiterated findings from the USA (Alattar et al, 2016;McCartt & Northrup, 2004;Steinhardt & Watson, 2007) and Australia (Raftery & Wundersitz, 2011;Steinhardt et al, 2007) that most crashes occur in the evening and early morning. In addition, crashes on rural roads were more commonly associated with seat belt non-use fatalities than urban roads.…”

“…An association between age and seat belt use is a common theme throughout the literature, with drivers in their late teens and early 20s being least likely to wear seat belts (Alver et al, 2014;Eluru et al, 2007;Romano et al, 2011). This trend is compounded for young males (Alattar et al, 2016;McCartt et al, 2004;Raftery & Wundersitz, 2011). These patterns were reiterated by this study, but were associated for all vehicle occupants, not just drivers.…”

“…For example: there is a link between seat belt enforcement laws and wearing rates (Shults et al, 2016;Bhat et al, 2012); for some people, the discomfort of wearing, or the difficulty of fastening a seat belt may result in non-use particularly by those aged over 75 years, people who are obese, and people who experience arthritis (Fong et al, 2016;Begg & Langley, 2012). Finally, the influence and attitudes of other people in the vehicle and a person's perceptions of the riskiness of a journey can affect the 'decision policy' to wear or not to wear a seat belt (Alattar et al, 2016).…”

Culture and decision making

“…The expression ''decision mode" refers to who (or what) is involved in making a given decision and how that decision is made (Alattar et al, 2016). We focus our discussion on cultural variations in the ''who" part of the challenge first, and then on ''how" decisions are made.…”

Seatbelt Use as a Police Avoidance Strategy: A Test Using the Legality of Medical Marijuana

“…Other research has shown these to be determinants of seatbelt use. In particular, male drivers, those driving in the evening, and those in places with non-primary enforcement were found to be less likely to wear seatbelts [12,15]. Comparison of the control variables for the MML and non-MML states reveals that there are no extreme differences in the age, gender, or time of the week the data were collected.…”