Motor Vehicle Safety

In late 1994, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) did a special nationwide survey on the use of safety belts. This survey found the rate of safety belt use to be 58 percent. NHTSA's survey suggests that although the use of safety belts has increased substantially from the 11 percent reported in 1982, considerable progress is still needed if the Department of Transportation is to meet its current goal of 75-percent use of safety belts by 1997. The four states--California, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Washington--that have achieved rates of more than 80-percent use of safety belts have comprehensive programs, including strong laws mandating use of safety belts, visible and aggressive enforcement of these laws, and vigorous programs to educate the public. An effective federal strategy to boost the use of safety belts would be to encourage the states to establish comprehensive programs that include all the elements that increase safety belt use--primary enforcement laws with aggressive enforcement, requirements that all occupants of vehicles that have belts installed use them, fines that discourage noncompliance, and public education. Current law does not require the occupants of cars' back seats or any occupant of a light truck or a van to use safety belts. Neither does the law specify primary and secondary enforcement. Given the increased number of light trucks being sold and the low rate of seat belt use in these vehicles, measures are needed to boost the rate of seat belt use by the occupants of light trucks.

GAO found that: (1) since 1982, the use of safety belts nationwide has increased significantly; (2) the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is unable to report on safety belt use with any accuracy because state surveys use varying methodologies to measure seat belt usage; (3) NHTSA could increase the reliability of usage rates if it developed narrower survey guidelines, but changes are unlikely, since state seat belt laws vary and NHTSA no longer provides financial incentives to encourage states to improve their surveys; (4) states with the highest usage rates generally have primary enforcement laws, which allow law enforcement officers to ticket violators solely for not using seat belts, visible and aggressive enforcement, and active public information programs; (5) states with primary enforcement laws averaged 15 percent higher use rates than states with secondary enforcement laws; (6) financial disincentives in federal transportation law have encouraged many states to adopt primary and secondary enforcement laws; (7) as of 1992, 17 states did not require occupants of light trucks or vans to use safety belts; (8) the lack of laws governing restraint use in light trucks has become an increasing problem, since these vehicles have unfavorable rollover rates and their sales are increasing; (9) the fines assessed for not using seat belts remain low; and (10) the federal government and states could increase the use of safety belts by developing and distributing a model safety law and enacting laws that provide for primary enforcement, coverage of all occupants in all types of vehicles, aggressive enforcement, and higher fines.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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