M.Ing. (Transportation Engineering) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Data on safety belt use were collected at two swimming pools over three consecutive summers. The impact of several variables upon safety belt use was examined. First, an Intervention Program (IP) was designed, comprised of Promotional, Reward, and Feedback components. Second, an Awareness/Education (AE) strategy was introduced to children enrolled in swim lessons. Third, belt use was examined before and after a mandatory safety belt use law (BUL) was enacted in Virginia. The moderating effects of the BUL were studied by implementing both the IP and the AE interventions during the pre- and post-BUL environments. Finally, some aspects of a behavioral prompt (i.e., a "Personal" vs. an "Impersonal" delivery method), and their relationship to safety belt use were examined. Major findings include, those individuals most influenced by the IP in the pre-BUL environment were those same individuals who were influenced by the BUL. Thus, while the IF did have an impact upon mean safety belt use levels in the post-BUL context, belt use increases over Baseline were not as dramatic as those observed in the pre-BUL environment. / Master of Science

The theory of risk compensation predicts that when individuals increase the practice of a safe behavior, they will also increase the practice of an unsafe behavior in order to maintain the same level of overall risk. In contrast, response generalization predicts that an increase in safe behavior will increase other safe behaviors in the same response class. The present study examined the effects of community-based feedback on the safety belt use of drivers in a small community in Southwest Virginia, while drivers on an intersecting highway served as a control group. An AB design was used to test the effects of the feedback on belt use. Turn signal use and right and left hand turn behaviors were also measured to study risk compensation vs. response generalization. Baseline measures were taken for 13 weeks at which point two feedback signs were erected in the community for the remaining 17 weeks of the study. The words "SAFETY BELT USE IN NEWPORT LAST WEEK" with the percentages of male and female driver safety belt use the previous week appeared on the signs. Feedback increased the safety belt use average in the community by 15.5 percentage points for males, and 9.7 percentage points for females over a 17 week period. Evidence for response generalization was shown by a 14.9 percentage point increase in turn signal use over the 17 weeks of the feedback intervention. / Master of Science

A large scale intervention program conducted by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles to increase safety belt use in eight communities (cities, towns, and counties) throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia was evaluated. The police or sheriff's department in each community conducted either one, two, or three repeated applications (waves) of public information/education programs. Each target community was matched with a non-treatment control community with a similar population. The overall project was very successful. The mean percent safety belt use for the eight target communities began at 52%, and significantly increased to 73% by the end of the project. The mean percent safety belt use for the eight control communities also began at 52%, and dropped insignificantly to 48% by the end of the project. To extend previous work on the relationship between intervention agents and intervention effectiveness, it was hypothesized that there would be a positive relationship between mean percent safety belt use increase and the agent-to-target ratios (the proportion of police officers or deputies participating in the program per number of citizens in the community), citation-to-target ratios (the proportion of citations or written warnings given during the program per number of citizens in the community), and promotional gimmick-to-target ratios (the proportion of promotional gimmicks given during the program per number of citizens in the community). Each of these ratios were significantly correlated with the percent safety belt use increase for the eight target communities. The terminal model for a stepwise regression procedure, which included the agent-to-target and citation-to-target ratios, yielded an R² of .83. A plan for institutionalizing safety belt programs that would reduce many of the problems associated with motivating large scale safety belt use is suggested, as well as suggestions for future research. / Master of Science

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985. / Also available in print.

Safety belt reminder systems are ubiquitously present in most, if not alI automobiles sold in the United States. Past research has found that the effectiveness of these reminder systems have shown minimal social benefit in the effort to increase safety belt use. The current investigation was conducted to determine if modified reminder systems could improve safety belt use. This research used an electronically equipped research vehicle sponsored by General Motors Corporation. The vehicle's research equipment allowed for the manipulation of different auditory reminder stimuli (i.e., chime, buzzer, and voice), temporal factors (e.g., presentation delays and second reminders) I and the measurement of the driver's safety belt use. Three modifications were explored: the presentation of a Delayed Reminder, Second Reminder, and comparisons of different auditory stimuli. The vehicle also permitted a single subject repeated measure design and methodology that provided process analysis. The results showed that the Delayed Reminder appeared ineffective at increasing belt use, whereas the Second Reminder was found to increase two out of nine subjects' safety belt response rates. The differential effects between the three auditory stimuli (i.e., Chime, Buzzer, & Voice) were inconclusive, though for two subjects the Buzzer and Voice were associated with safety belt increases. / Master of Science

Recent research has demonstrated beneficial impact of incentives for safety belt promotion in a variety of environmental settings and has prompted the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to promote and support community wide incentive programs for motivating safety belt use nationwide. Although influencing remarkable increases in safety belt use, these community efforts have definite weaknesses, including excessive costs, short-term intervention periods, limited evaluation data, and program delivery by outside agencies rather than indigenous personnel. This study reports the plan and outcome of a large-scale, safety belt program which overcame these disadvantages. The year-long ''Seatbelt Sweepstakes" began Fall 1983 in a large university community (21,000 students) and was delivered by the campus police. The 15 regular police officers recorded the license numbers of vehicles with drivers wearing a shoulder belt, and each Monday of quarterly intervention periods, ten raffle winners were drawn from these numbers. Winners received gift certificates donated by community merchants. A comprehensive evaluation scheme includes daily observations of shoulder belt use, periodic attitude surveys of program agents (police) and recipients (students), and continuous recording of program side-effects (e.g., number of parking tickets and speeding violations, safety belt use and injuries at accident scenes). For those drivers affiliated with the university (i.e., faculty, staff, and students) usage increased from a Fall baseline mean of 17% to 26% during the second incentive period, while usage for non-affiliated drivers increased to a lesser extent, from a pre-program mean of 16% to an incentive program mean of 1990. Winter withdrawal usage rates were 25% and 17%, respectively, suggesting that the program had a differential effect on university affiliated vs. non-university affiliated drivers. Faculty and staff had a higher Fall baseline usage percentage than students (19% vs. 15% mean usage for faculty/staff and students, respectively), increased their belt wearing as a result of the the intervention phases to a greater extent than students (33% vs. 20% mean usage for faculty/staff and students, respectively), and showed greater maintenance after the incentives were withdrawn in the Winter (30% vs. 22% mean usage for faculty/staff and students, respectively). A systematic evaluation of student opinions suggest that opinions toward campus police did not change significantly as a function of the Seatbelt Sweepstakes although an officer post program questionnaire indicated that the officers felt the students were responding in a more positive manner toward them specifically as a result of Sweepstakes 1 and 2. In addition to attitudinal measures, a cost effective analysis indicated that Sweepstakes 1 and 2 were relatively inexpensive to run and the implementation of the program interfered only slightly with officers' ongoing duties. / M.S.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Recent research on attempts to motivate large-scale safety belt use has documented a number of shortcoming, including limited long-term evaluation data, excessive costs, short-lived intervention effects, and program delivery by outside agencies rather than indigenous personnel. The present study attempted to overcome these disadvantages. Specifically, the "Buckle-up for Bucks" safety belt promotion campaign conducted at a community hospital incorporated the following: a) indigenous hospital staff as program sponsors, delivery agents, and co-coordinators; b) a year-long program evaluation; and c) a combination incentive and commitment-based intervention program. Directed and coordinated through the Office of Community Relations, the hospital-based intervention included awareness sessions, randomly determined five-dollar a week cash incentives, and a commitment-based pledge card strategy. To be eligible to win the incentives, the staff members met the following contingencies: a) wore a safety belt; b) signed a pledge card; c) displayed the signed pledge card on their dashboard; and d) pledged for a duration that ensured eligibility. The evaluation data were collected for four phases: baseline, intervention, withdrawal, and a long-term, follow-up. For the overall sample, usage increased from a baseline mean of 15.6% to 34.7% during the intervention, decreased to 25.6 at withdrawal, and increased to a long-term follow-up mean of 28.6%. For the Pledge card signers and the Non-singers, usage increased from baseline means of 29.4% and 11.8% to intervention usage rates of 75.1% and 17.7%, respectively, demonstrating that the intervention had a differential effect on the signers and non-signers. Withdrawal and Follow-up usage rates were 56.0% and 44.9% for the Pledge group, and 17.2% and 22.1% for the Non-pledge group. A chi-square test for white noise indicated the data were autocorrelated. A time-series analysis was conducted to remove the serial dependency. Statistical significance of the intervention was examined from the time-series perspective and traditional analysis of variance procedures. Differences between approaches are addressed and theoretical explanations for the intervention effects are considered. Finally, suggestions for future research are offered. / M.S.