Have people changed their behavior in terms of how they secure their children in their vehicles, especially if those vehicles are equipped with passenger air bags? Is there widespread support for standard safety belt and upgraded child safety seat laws and enforcement of those laws?

These are among the many questions the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign sought to answer when it commissioned two telephone surveys conducted in July 1997. The first survey was administered to 400 adults who transport children ages 12 and under in their vehicles at least twice per week. The second survey was administered to 800 registered voters (of whom 234 also said that they transport children ages 12 and under in their vehicles at least twice per week) to measure attitudes toward seat belt use for back seat passengers. A third survey administered to 800 adults in September 1997 measured attitudes toward seat belt use for back seat passengers. The results of these surveys indicate increased public awareness about a number of issues regarding air bag safety and seat belt use.

Eight out of 10 survey respondents who transport children ages 12 and under said that they have seen, read, or heard a �specific warning not to put children in the front seat with a passenger air bag.� People with passenger air bags �tuned in� to this important warning more than people who did not have air bags in their vehicle.

Respondents reported that they receive most of these warnings from television news (67 percent), the newspaper (48 percent), and the radio (37 percent) (respondents could select more than one source). Warning messages carried by the media have made a significant difference in people realizing that children ages 12 and under should never ride in the front seat of a vehicle, especially with a passenger air bag. Consequently, they have changed their behavior. Overall, the percentage of people surveyed with passenger air bags who are properly securing their children has increased from 66 percent in August 1996 to 76 percent in July 1997.

Although awareness of the dangers of putting children in the front seat with a passenger air bag appears to be high and increasing, demographic differences in awareness of this important safety warning exist. While 93 percent of college educated women and 90 percent of those with household incomes in excess of $80,000 reported that they have seen, read, or heard this specific warning, only 76 percent of those in the Generation X group (young adults) reported that they have seen, read, or heard the warning.

This is significant because this age group is in its prime parenting years and is transporting a large number of children. Other groups that are less likely to be receiving the message include individuals with a high school education or less, non college-educated men, individuals who do not have air bags in their cars, African Americans, individuals earning less than $20,000 in household income, and Generation X men.

There is increasing support for primary enforcement of seat belt and child safety seat laws. Sixty percent of the Generation X population surveyed favor state laws that allow police to write a citation for a driver who is not wearing a seat belt without having stopped the driver for any other traffic law violation. Ninety percent of the Generation X population favor state laws that allow police to write a citation for a driver if children riding in the car are not properly secured in either child safety seats or seat belts. However, the survey findings indicate that this matter is not a strong voting issue. Fifty-seven percent of the Generation X population reported that they would not base their vote on an elected official�s stand concerning primary enforcement. Of those who said it is a voting issue, they favor elected officials who support these laws by a 2 to 1 margin.

The survey that measured back seat safety belt use reveals some interesting results. While approximately two-thirds of those surveyed report that they always buckle up in the front seat, only about half that many say they use their seat belt in the back seat. Although the back seat is the safest place to ride in a car, unbelted back seat passengers are at serious risk, and, in a crash, they can pose a potentially fatal threat to others in the vehicle.

Drivers are only half as likely to ensure that passengers in the back seat are buckled up. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed reported that they require front seat passengers to wear a seat belt, while only 34 percent make sure back seat passengers are securely belted. Clearly, seat belt use in the back seat seriously lags behind seat belt use in the front seat.

Although many people said they understand the risks associated with not buckling up, far too many people admitted that they do not wear their seat belts. Increasing seat belt use is the most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries on the nation�s roadways.

Adults who do not buckle up send children a deadly message that it is okay not to wear a seat belt, and children tend to mimic adult behavior. A 1997 study conducted by Ford Motor Company on about 25,000 crashes found that if a driver is not buckled, 70 percent of the time children riding in that vehicle will not be buckled either. If, however, a driver is buckled, 94 percent of the time children will be buckled too.

According to an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study, properly restrained children in the back seat have the lowest crash death rates. According to the IIHS, children ages 12 and under ride safer in the rear seat when a passenger air bag is present, and even in cars without air bags, children are 35 percent safer riding in the back seat than in the front.