Seatbelt Non-Use and Car Crash Injury: An Interview Study

• Published in: Traffic injury prevention 2005-06, Vol.6 (2), p.117-119
• Main Authors: Blows, Stephanie, Ivers, Rebecca Q., Connor, Jennie, Ameratunga, Shanthi, Woodward, Mark, Norton, Robyn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accidents, Traffic; Case Control Study; Female; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; Risk Factors; Seat Belts - utilization; Seatbelts; Traffic Injury; Wounds and Injuries - etiology; Wounds and Injuries - mortality
• ISSN: 1538-9588; 1538-957X
• DOI: 10.1080/15389580590931572

Objectives:To examine the relationship between seatbelt non-use at the time of a crash, habitual non-use of seatbelts, and car crash injury; and to calculate the population attributable risk for car crash injury due to seatbelt non-use. Methods:A population-based case control, interview study in Auckland, New Zealand, with 571 injured or killed drivers as cases and 588 population-based controls randomly selected from the driving population. Results:Unbelted drivers had 10 times the risk of involvement in an injury crash compared to belted drivers after adjustment for multiple confounders. Habitual non-users were likely to be unbelted when involved in a crash. The population attributable risk for seatbelt non-use was 13%. Conclusions: Non-use of seatbelts is very strongly associated with increased injury crash involvement. Even where seatbelt use rates are higher than 90%, there remains a small group of habitual non-users who are at high risk; these drivers may benefit from targeted interventions.