Texas Children and Nighttime Drivers/Passengers at

 

Higher Risk

Seat Belt Survey Finds

There’s both good and bad news when it comes to Texans and their use of seat belts.

 

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has found that while overall seat belt use remains high (91.6 percent), a lower percentage of children and nighttime motorists are restrained, and they are at higher risk of serious injury or death in the event of a crash.

 

Every year, TTI conducts four different surveys: The Texas Statewide Survey of Seat Belt Use, Front Seat Occupant Restraint Use in 18 Texas Cities, Survey of Child Restraint Use, and Occupant Restraint Use among School Aged Children.

 

“We found that 86 percent of children aged five and under were restrained in some manner; however, more than 22 percent were restrained incorrectly,” says Senior Research Scientist Katie Womack, team leader of the Behavioral Research Group at TTI’s Center for Transportation Safety. Womack and her team have been conducting observational seat belt surveys for 30 years. “And the results from our 2016 School Aged Children Survey indicated that only 59.7 percent of children aged 5–16 were buckled up,” she says.

 

How Is Your City Doing?

As part of the statewide surveys, TTI researchers travel to 18 Texas cities, observing seat belt use among daytime and nighttime drivers and passengers. According to the results, Austin and Houston had the largest percentage of users during the daytime hours (more than 93 percent), with Beaumont having the least percentage of drivers and passengers who buckle up (85.5 percent).

 

Bryan/College Station had the highest use during nighttime hours (89.8 percent), with Beaumont and Wichita Falls recording the lowest percentage of seat belt use (79 and 79.8 percent, respectively).

“For every percentage point increase in seat belt use in Texas, 25 lives could be saved,” Womack says, citing figures from previous studies. “If we could increase nighttime use to match daytime seat belt use, we could save 150 lives and prevent many more people from being injured.”

For More Information

Katie Womack

Nighttime Seat Belt Use

Womack says there are other areas with room for improvement, especially among Texans who drive at night:

 

•   84.2 percent of front seat occupants were using their seat belt.

•   Males were less likely to wear their seat belt during nighttime hours.

•   Pickup truck occupants wore their belts at a lower percentage (79.3 percent) than car occupants (85.3 percent).

•   Overall seat belt use was less after midnight, with only 80 percent of motorists wearing belts during the 3:00 a.m. hour.

 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, during the 2014 Thanksgiving holiday, 58 percent of people killed in nighttime crashes were unbelted, compared to the 38 percent of those killed in daytime crashes that were unbelted.

 

“For every percentage point increase in seat belt use in Texas, 25 lives could be saved,” Womack says, citing figures from previous studies. “If we could increase nighttime use to match daytime seat belt use, we could save 150 lives and prevent many more people from being injured.”