Safety Belt Technology Countermeasures Study Final Report

United States. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Technology Division
2008
FMCSA Supplementary Notes Mr. Jerry Robin was the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) for this project. Abstract: Safety belts are the single most effective injury prevention component of highway vehicles today. In 2006, observational studies reported that safety belt use by drivers of Class 7 and 8 trucks was 59 percent compared with an 81 percent belt use rate for passenger vehicle drivers. This study explored addresses two topics of research. The first topic explored
more » ... ogies designed to increase safety belt use by commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. Four promising technologies likely to increase safety belt use were identified: (1) Enhanced Audible Reminder Systems, (2) Brightly Colored Safety Belts, (3) Safety Belt Tension Adjustors, and (4) Seat-Integrated Safety Restraint Systems. A cost-benefit analysis was performed, indicating that brightly colored safety belts and enhanced audible reminders are both costbeneficial solutions, suggesting that the likely injury cost savings due to increased safety belt use will exceed the cost required to equip one vehicle with the device. At the present time, no Federal regulations exist that require safety belt reminder systems of any kind (audible or visual) for CMVs. Conversely, for passenger vehicles, the Code of Federal Regulations Part 571, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 208, requires that audible and visual reminder systems are installed at the driver's seating position. This requirement has been in place since 1974. The second topic of research employed the FARS, NASS, GES, and LTCCS databases to perform a detailed analysis of fatal and serious injury crashes and to identify characteristics of the unbelted driver population. The analysis also explored the causes of rollover crashes and the likely impact of belt use on the frequency of driver injuries and fatalities. The data analysis identified that for both belted and unbelted drivers, the majority of CMV driver fatalities occurred during rollover crashes, followed by impacts with other vehicles. A review of unbelted driver fatalities and serious injuries indicated that 39 percent of unbelted driver fatalities (138 drivers per year) could be prevented with safety belt use and 47 to 81 percent of moderately to seriously injured drivers (1,600 to 2,500 drivers per year) could have sustained injuries less severe if they were properly restrained 17.
doi:10.21949/1502751 fatcat:qxhnov4bbzarvapwt4xapryud4