Results

Daytime and Nighttime Belt Use

Belt use observations across all sites were combined for these analyses. There were 9,707 observations during the day and 5,791 observations at night.  Overall, the average seat belt use rate across sites was 86.6 percent during the day and 80.4 percent at night. (For a summary and results from each site, see Appendix A.)

Occupant Characteristics

The daytime drivers’ belt use of 86.9 percent appeared greater than the nighttime drivers’ belt use of 80.7 percent.  This belt use pattern was similar for passengers who had a daytime belt use rate of 86 percent and a nighttime belt use rate of 81.1 percent.

Both men and women had higher belt use rates during the day than they did at night (see Appendix A. Table 1.).  Specifically, men wore their seat belts 85.1 percent of the time during the day and 78.2 percent of the time at night.  Women wore their belts 89.9 percent of the time during the day and 86.3 percent of the time at night.

Vehicle Characteristics

Occupant belt usage varied by vehicle type.  Belt usage measured higher in passenger cars (Day: 90.4%; Night: 80.9%), SUVs (Day: 87.9%; Night: 85.3%), and vans (Day: 88.2%; Night: 87.9%); compared to pickup trucks (Day: 83.8%; Night: 77.7%).  This was true both during the day and at night.

Roadway Characteristics

Belt use was higher during the day for observation sites both outside city limits (Day: 84.7%; Night: 77.6%) and inside city limits (Day: 88.6%; Night: 83.1%).

Belt usage measured lower at night compared to day regardless of road type (see Table 1).  Belt use on Interstates was 88.1 percent during the day and 83.2 percent at night.  Belt use on non-Interstates was 86.2 percent during the day and 79.6 percent at night.