Safety Belt Use Estimate for

Native American Tribal Reservations

DOT HS 809 921

October 2005

Final Report

This document is available to the public from the National Techinical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161

Northern Plains

Northwest

Southwest

South Central South

+

East

Great Lakes

Northwest Northern Plains

Southwest

South Central South

+

East
 This publication is distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in the interest of 

information exchange. The opinions, findings, and conclusions 

expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not 

necessarily those of the Department of Transportation or the National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The United States Government 

assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. If trade or 

manufacturers' names or products are mentioned, it is because they 

are considered essential to the object of the publication and should not 

be construed as an endorsement. The United States Government does 

not endorse products or manufacturers. 
 - i - 

Technical Report Documentation Page

1. Report No. 

 DOT HS 809 921 

2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No.

5. Report Date

 October 2005 

4. Title and Subtitle

 Safety Belt Use Estimate for Native American Tribal Reservations 

6. Performing Organization Code

7. Author(s)

 W.A. Leaf and M.G. Solomon 

8. Performing Organization Report No.

9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)

 Preusser Research Group, Inc. 

 7100 Main Street 

 Trumbull, CT 06611 

11. Contract or Grant No.

 DTNH22-99-D-25099 

 Task Order 7 

13. Type of Report and Period Covered

 Final Report 

 August 2000 – December 2003 

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address

 U.S. Department of Transportation 

 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590 14. Sponsoring Agency Code

15. Supplementary Notes

 The Contracting Officer's Technical Representative for this project was Dr. Linda Cosgrove. 

16. Abstract

 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Indian 

Highway Safety Program, sponsored a project to (a) establish the first baseline tribal reservation safety belt use rate, 

and (b) develop a methodology to use in the future to track trends and specific program effects. The planned sample 

included 18 reservations with 150 sites on these reservations. However, the Navajo reservation in the Southwest, 

which has 22 percent of the total Native American population, did not permit safety belt observations to be made in its 

territory. Ultimately, data were collected from 120 sites on 16 tribal reservations. Safety belt use was observed 

between September and November 2004 on 15 reservations and in February 2005 on one reservation. Overall, 44 

percent of the vehicles were cars, 31 percent were pickups, 14 percent were SUVs, and 10 percent were vans. Fiftyeight percent of the drivers were male, 38 percent were female and the sex of 3 percent could not be determined. Fiftythree percent of the passengers were female, 37 percent were male, and the sex of 10 percent of the passengers could 

not be determined. Belt use could be coded for 90 percent of the drivers and 83 percent of the passengers. For the 

tribal reservations subject to tribal law and tribal traffic law enforcement, excluding the Navajo, the overall safety belt 

use rate was 55.4 percent. There was a very high variation in belt use across reservations, ranging from a low of 8.8 

percent to a high of 84.8 percent. Nine tribal reservations had primary safety belt laws; in them, 68.6 percent of 

vehicle occupants were belted. By comparison, three tribal reservations had secondary belt laws; they averaged 53.2 

percent belt use. For the four tribal reservations with no belt use law of any kind, only 26.4 percent of the vehicle 

occupants were belted. NHTSA is funding two initiatives to raise reservation belt use: a Law Enforcement Liaison to 

promote emphasis on belt law enforcement and a demonstration program to develop strategies for grant solicitations 

for occupant protection programs on Native American Tribal Reservations. The methodology developed here will be 

crucial in evaluating improvements due to these and other initiatives.

17. Key Words

 Seat belt Safety belt Belt use rate 

 Native American Primary belt use law 

 Section 157 Secondary belt use law

18. Distribution Statement 

 Document is available through the 

 National Technical Information Service 

 Springfield, VA 22161 

19. Security Classif. (of this report)

 Unclassified 

20. Security Classif. (of this page)

 Unclassified 

21. No. of Pages

 

22. Price

Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized
 - ii - 

This page intentionally left blank. 
 - iii - 

 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

 NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION 

 TECHNI CAL SUMMARY 

CONTRACTOR 

 Preusser Research Group, Inc. 

CONTRACT NUMBER 

 DTNH22-99-D-25099 

Task Order 7 

REPORT TITLE 

 Safety Belt Use Estimate for Native American Tribal Reservations 

REPORT DATE 

 October 2005 

REPORT AUTHOR(S) 

 W.A. Leaf and M.G. Solomon 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), 

Indian Highway Safety Program sponsored a project to (a) establish the first baseline tribal reservation 

safety belt use rate, and (b) develop a methodology to use in the future to track trends and specific 

program effects. This is similar to NHTSA’s National Occupant Protection Usage Survey (NOPUS), a 

probability-based survey that reports a single belt use rate for the nation. The goal was to gather a single 

belt use rate for tribal reservations that could track progress towards increasing belt use. 

Although there are over 560 federally recognized tribes, approximately 180 of these reservations within 

the 48 contiguous States have safety belt use subject to tribal law and tribal traffic law enforcement. The 

populations of tribal reservations differ markedly. Socially and culturally, tribal reservations can be 

classified according to their geographic areas. They are Northwest (Washington State, Oregon, and 

Idaho), Northern Plains (Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota), Southwest (California, 

Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico), Great Lakes (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, 

Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), South Central (Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, 

Arkansas, and Louisiana), and South and East (all remaining States excluding Hawaii and Alaska). 

Within these regions, 61 reservations have populations of 2,000 or more, which represents 660,000 

people or 93 percent of the population on tribal reservations. Native Americans make up 61 percent of the 

population on all tribal reservations. 

Figure TS-1. Areas of Tribal Reservations 

Because tribal reservations set their own 

safety belt laws, there is much 

variability. Some tribal reservations 

have no safety belt laws, some have a 

primary law, in which motorists can be 

stopped solely for safety belt violations, 

and other reservations have a secondary 

law that allows a law enforcement 

officer to ticket people for a safety belt 

violation only if they were stopped for 

another infraction. In addition, 

reservations exist within the context of 

the safety belt laws governing the States 

within which they are located 

Northern Plains Northwest

Southwest

Great Lakes

South Central South

+

East

Northern Plains

Northwest

Southwest

Great Lakes

South Central South

+

East
 - iv - 

Methods 

Table TS-1. Tribal Reservations with Safety Belt 

Use Subject to Tribal Traffic Law Enforcement 

The sampling plan was designed to provide a 

reliable estimate of belt use across all the tribal 

reservations subject to tribal law and tribal 

traffic law enforcement. The sampling 

procedure weighted all tribal reservations 

proportional to their populations, and included 

the criteria that the sample of the tribal 

reservations: 

be limited to tribal reservations with 

populations of 2,000 or more; 

represent varying conditions; 

be from all areas of the country; and 

include enough sites per reservation so that 

the final combined safety use rate would be reliable. 

The objective was a sample from each area at a rate approximately 1 in 4 reservations or 1 

reservation per 30,000 population. The planned sample included 18 reservations with 150 sites on these 

reservations. However, the Navajo reservation in the Southwest, which has 22 percent of the total Native 

American population, did not permit safety belt observations to be made in its territory. Ultimately, data 

were collected from 120 sites on 16 tribal reservations. 

Results 

Safety belt use on tribal reservations subject to tribal law and tribal traffic law enforcement was observed 

between September and November 2004 (15 reservations) and in February 2005 (1 reservation). Overall, 

44 percent of the vehicles were cars, 31 percent were pickups, 14 percent were SUVs, and 10 percent 

were vans. Fifty-eight percent of the drivers were male, 38 percent were female, and the sex of 3 percent 

could not be determined (does not sum to 100 due to rounding). Fifty-three percent of the passengers were 

female, 37 percent were male, and the sex of 10 percent of the passengers could not be determined. Belt 

use could be coded for 90 percent of the drivers and 83 percent of the passengers. 

For the tribal reservations subject to tribal law and tribal traffic law enforcement, excluding the Navajo, 

the overall safety belt use rate was 55.4 percent. There was a very high variation in belt use across 

reservations, ranging from a low of 8.8 percent to a high of 84.8 percent. 

There were significant differences in belt use by vehicle type and occupant sex for drivers and passengers, 

consistent with patterns seen in State and national belt use results. Rates were higher for cars (58.8%), 

SUVs (62.1%) and vans (57.5%) and much lower for pickup trucks (48.1%). 

Males were less likely to use safety belts than females, 52.3 percent versus 60.3 percent. Drivers were 

somewhat more likely to be belted, at 56.6 percent, than passengers at 51.3 percent were. The lowest 

overall belt use rate was for male passengers in pickups, at just 39.1 percent. The highest rate was for 

female drivers of SUVs, 67.7 percent belted. 

Belt use also varied consistently with road type. Within towns on collector roads, overall belt use was 

59.0 percent, while rates on more rural between-town arterials was 51.0 percent. 

Area Number Total 

Population*

% Native 

American*

Great Lakes 13 39,797 30% 

Northern 

Plains 

20 162,659 60% 

Northwest 29 101,425 34% 

South 

Central 

11 52,850 19% 

South & 

East 

33 33,496 65% 

Southwest 71 322,023 80% 

Total 177 712,250 61% 

*Source: 2000 U.S. Census 
 - v - 

Three of the areas had multiple reservations. The Northern Plains area had the five lowest belt use rates 

and averaged just 27.6 percent belt use across all five. Great Lakes and Northwest had the highest belt 

use; 3 of the 4 reservations in those two areas had the highest individual belt use rates observed. Of the 5 

reservations in the Southwest, 3 had moderate belt use figures, while the other 2 had rates above 75 

percent, among the highest for tribal reservations. 

Another indication of belt use is the kind of safety belt law. There are two kinds of belt use laws that may 

affect use rates: the safety belt law of the reservation itself and the safety belt law of the State in which 

the tribal reservation is located. Data were examined in both ways. Nine reservations had primary safety 

belt laws; in them, 68.6 percent of vehicle occupants were belted. By comparison, 3 tribal reservations 

had secondary belt laws; they averaged 53.2 percent belt use. For the 4 reservations with no belt use laws 

of any kind, only 26.4 percent of the vehicle occupants were belted. 

Table TS-2. Safety Belt Use by Vehicle, 

Occupant, Area & Road Type 

In addition, 9 reservations were located in States 

with primary belt use laws. Those 9 reservations 

were the nine with the best use rates; they averaged 

72.8 percent belted occupants. The remaining 7 

reservations, in States with secondary belt use laws, 

were the lowest-usage reservations. They averaged 

just 33.3 percent buckled occupants. 

Overall, safety belt use in tribal reservations subject 

to tribal law and tribal traffic law enforcement varies 

greatly. The recorded figures ranged from less than 

10 percent to almost 85 percent, a difference so large 

as to make it unmistakable that different reservations 

are fundamentally different in their approach to and success at encouraging safety belt use. 

Conclusions 

This is the first time safety belt use has been systematically measured across a representative sample of 

Indian reservations. The procedure is well documented, and it can be replicated in the future to provide a 

moving picture of safety belt use in Indian Country. It will be a useful tool in measuring the results of 

safety belt initiatives. 

Safety belt use in Indian Country varies greatly from tribal reservation to tribal reservation. Figures 

ranged from less than 10 percent to almost 85 percent, a difference so large as to make it unmistakable 

that different tribal reservations are fundamentally different in their approach to and success at 

encouraging safety belt use. 

The tribal reservations with the highest belt use rates had rates comparable to general U.S. belt use rates, 

so it is clear that Native American governments can be effective in achieving high levels of belt use. 

Figures for other tribal reservations suggest that their governments have done little or nothing toward 

achieving high belt use. Reservations with primary safety belt laws had the highest use rates, followed by 

reservations with secondary safety belt laws; reservations with no safety belt laws had the lowest use 

rates. Adding any safety belt law, and changing a secondary law to primary, have been shown for States 

Drivers Passengers 

 Belt Use Number Belt Use Number

All Cases 56.6% 9,064 51.3% 2,883 

Vehicle Type 

 Auto 60.3% 4,122 53.7% 1,431 

 Pickup 49.2% 2,723 43.9% 736 

 SUV 63.5% 1,265 56.1% 392 

 Van 58.5% 954 54.7% 324 

Occupant Sex 

 Male 54.0% 5,377 44.4% 1,154 

 Female 61.3% 3,646 56.7% 1,684 

Area & Road Type 

 Urban/ Collector 59.5% 5,182 57.2% 1,662 

 Rural/ Arterial 52.2% 3,882 47.9% 1,221 
 - vi - 

to lead to increased safety belt use, and upgrading the belt laws in tribal reservations lacking them could 

“kick-start” improvements in belt use. 

NHTSA is funding two initiatives to raise the belt use on tribal reservations. First, a law enforcement 

liaison has been hired by the BIA’s Indian Highway Safety Program to promote tribal law enforcement 

support for occupant protection laws and increasing enforcement efforts in conjunction with NHTSA’s 

Click It or Ticket mobilizations and on-going traffic safety enforcement efforts. Second, the BIA will 

conduct a demonstration project to develop, test and evaluate program strategies that can be used in grant 

solicitations to fund occupant protection projects in Indian Country. This model program will identify the 

best mix of activities that have the greatest potential to work in tribal communities to increase safety belt 

use. 

The limitations of this study include the nonparticipation of the Navajo reservation, which represents 

almost a quarter of the population of the tribal reservations subject to tribal law and tribal traffic law 

enforcement.
 - vii - 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Page

I. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................1

II. Methods.............................................................................................................................................4

Tribal Reservation Selection ...................................................................................................4

Site Selection............................................................................................................................7

Data Collection.........................................................................................................................8

Observers ....................................................................................................................8

Scheduling...................................................................................................................8

Observations ...............................................................................................................8

Calculation of Overall Safety Belt Usage Rate and Variability............................................9

Overall Rates...............................................................................................................9

The Standard Error of the Overall Safety Belt Use Rate .......................................10

III. Results............................................................................................................................................11

Areas..........................................................................................................................12

Belt Use Laws...........................................................................................................12

IV. Discussion......................................................................................................................................14

Appendix A. Safety Belt Observation Instructions .........................................................................A-1

Appendix B. Native American Safety Belt Observation Data Collection Form ...........................B-1

Appendix C. “Indian Country” Reservations with 2000+ Population ...........................................C-1

Appendix D. “Indian Country” Reservations with Less Than 2000 Population ...........................D-1

List of Tables 

Table Number Page

 1. “Indian Country” Area Distribution of Tribal Reservations and Population................................5 

 2. Final Sample of 18 Tribal Reservations..........................................................................................6 

 3. Observation Sample Overview ......................................................................................................11 

 4. Safety Belt Use, by Vehicle, Occupant, Area, and Road Type ...................................................12 

List of Figures 

Figure Number Page

 1. Native American Areas ....................................................................................................................3 
 - 1 - 

I. Introduction 

There are 562 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States. The 562 tribal 

nations collectively make up the “Indian State” eligible for Sec. 402 funding under Chapter 4 of 

the Title 23, United States Code.1 The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) administers the Indian 

Highway Safety Program (IHSP) and serves as the Governor’s Highway Safety Representative 

and focal point of coordination for the Indian State. The Indian State is appropriated highway 

safety grant funds the same manner as all other States and eligible U.S. Territories and is subject 

to setting performance-based programming goals for reducing motor vehicle crashes, fatalities, 

and injuries and reporting progress in achieving those goals. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the motor vehicle death 

rate for American Indians/Alaska Natives is nearly twice as high as other races (27.52 per 

100,000 population versus 15.30 per hundred thousand for all races in 2002). Further, motor 

vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death for Native Americans ages 1-34 and the third 

leading cause of death overall for American Indians/Alaska Natives. In December 2003, the 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that motor vehicle traffic 

crashes were the leading cause of death among all Americans during 2001 for ages 4-34, and the 

second leading cause of death for ages 1-3. 

In April 2004, NHTSA published a Technical Report, Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes on Indian 

Reservations 1975-2002 (Report No. DOT HS 809 727). This report showed that over 76 percent 

of the fatally injured occupants on tribal reservations were unrestrained at the time of the crash. 

The report states that in 2002 only 16 percent of the fatally injured occupants of passenger cars 

and light trucks on tribal reservations were restrained, compared with 38 percent in the Nation. 

In that same year, the national observed safety belt use rate determined by the National Occupant 

Protection Usage Survey was 75 percent. Individual State use rates ranged from 51 percent to 

92.6 percent (where known). In 2004, the national use rate increased to 80 percent, and the range 

of individual State rates increased to 63.2 percent to 95.3 percent (where known). 

This report defines the state of safety belt use for Native American Tribal reservations subject to 

tribal law and tribal traffic enforcement for 2004, a tool for use in problem identification and 

comparison with national and State safety belt use rates. 

Effective for 1998, NHTSA established revised guidelines for State Safety Belt Use Survey 

designs to measure progress in increasing safety belt use rates in a comparative and consistent 

manner throughout the country. Prior to the survey reported here, there had not been a 

“statewide” belt use survey for the Indian State. NHTSA fully funded the costs for the 

development of the survey design, conduct of the survey, and analysis of the survey results. The 

purpose was to provide a survey design comparable to other State surveys and determine a 

baseline safety belt use rate for Native American Tribal reservations subject to tribal law and 

tribal traffic enforcement. 

 

1 The Indian Nations State/BIA may or may not have direct access to other highway safety program funds allocated 

under Title 23, USC. For example, the Indian Nation “State” did not have direct access/eligibility to Section 157 or 

other funding under Chapter 1, Federal Aid Highways Program, but did have access to Section 2003(b) funding.
 - 2 - 

The first step in designing the sampling plan was to determine what tribal reservations qualified 

for safety belt use measurement. Although the Indian reservations are all sovereign entities, the 

governments of a number of the tribal reservations, and for a number of roadways within other 

tribal reservations, did not set or enforce safety belt use requirements. In order to focus on 

Indian-controlled belt use, we limited our safety belt use observations to areas subject to tribal 

law and tribal law enforcement. It is in those areas that tribal policy and procedures are directly 

responsible for current levels of safety belt use, and it is in these areas that tribal efforts can be 

most effective in establishing and improving safety belt usage levels. 

These criteria excluded a number of tribal governments, as noted below. They also excluded, in 

otherwise qualified reservations, roadways that are governed by State safety belt laws and 

patrolled by non-Indian authorities such as the States’ highway patrol (e.g., many State or 

Federal highways). 

For the purpose of this report, Native American Tribal reservations subject to tribal law 

and tribal traffic enforcement are referred to as “Indian Country”. This definition of 

Indian Country is somewhat restrictive and applies only to this safety belt use effort. 

Tribal reservations included in Indian Country are all in the 48 contiguous States. There are no 

tribal reservations located in Hawaii, and Alaska is a “Public Law 280” State. Nearly all tribal 

reservations in Public Law 280 (PL 280) States (Alaska, California, Minnesota, Nebraska, 

Oregon, and Wisconsin) were excluded since, under PL 280, they are subject to State traffic 

authorities and would already be included in Statewide belt use estimates. Four tribal 

reservations in these States are exceptions; they set and enforce laws covering use of their own 

roads and are included in Indian Country. In addition, five tribal reservations in non-PL 280 

States were excluded because they are known by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be unable to 

implement or enforce unique safety belt laws (e.g., because the tribal reservation is an 

undifferentiated area within a city). 

There remained in Indian Country approximately 180 federally recognized tribal reservations 

within the 48 contiguous States subject to tribal law and tribal traffic law enforcement. Total 

population on these tribal reservations is about 712,000 people, which represents 75 percent of 

the total 944,000 population for all American Indian Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust 

Lands in the 2000 U.S. Census. Each of the Indian Country reservations has its own road system 

and may set up its own safety belt use requirements and determine its own level of “compliance 

emphasis” through PI&E and enforcement. 

Individual tribal reservations vary greatly in terms of population. The largest is the Navajo 

Nation, which spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah (population 155,214). The next 

largest is the Osage Tribe in Oklahoma (44,437). These two tribal reservations contain 28 

percent of the population of Indian Country. Eleven tribal reservations have fewer than 100 

residents. 

For the purposes of safety belt use observations, all qualified tribal reservations with total 

populations of 2,000 or more were eligible for selection into the observation sample. There are 

61 such tribal reservations, and they are listed in Appendix C. They have a total population of 

about 660,000, or 93 percent of the total Indian Country population. Native Americans make up 
 - 3 - 

60 percent of the population on the 61 reservations versus 61 percent on all Indian Country 

reservations. The remaining reservations in Indian Country are listed in Appendix D. 

It was the judgment of the BIA that, socially and culturally, tribal reservations can be classified 

in six separate categories that corresponded to distinct geographic “Areas”: Northwest 

(Washington State, Oregon, and Idaho), Northern Plains (Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, 

and South Dakota), Southwest (California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico), 

Great Lakes (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), South Central 

(Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana), and South and 

East (all remaining States). These Areas became a stratification variable in tribal reservation 

selection. 

Figure 1. Native American Areas. 

Northern 

Plains 

Northwest 

Southwest 

Great

Lakes

South 

Central 

South 

 + 

 East 
 - 4 - 

II. Methods 

Tribal Reservation Selection 

There were three major complicating factors in selecting tribal reservations to observe. Together 

they required a somewhat more structured selection scheme than is used in most State safety belt 

use observation plans. As noted above, tribal reservations differ markedly in population. 

Reservations are not contiguous, as are the counties making up a State, but are scattered 

throughout much of the country. Finally, the same safety belt laws do not apply to all tribal 

reservations. Reservations are free to set their own safety belt laws. Some tribal reservations 

have no safety belt laws, some have a primary law, in which motorists can be stopped solely for 

safety belt violations, and other reservations have a secondary law that allows a law enforcement 

officer to ticket people for a safety belt violation only if they are already stopped for another 

infraction. Also, tribal reservations, particularly smaller ones, exist within the “context” of the 

safety belt laws governing the States within which they are located. 

The tribal reservation selection plan was a systematic selection plan based on selecting from 

within Areas, as defined above. General criteria for making up the sample were that it should: 

include enough tribal reservations to be representative of the varying conditions that 

exist; 

sample from all areas of the country, again to be representative; and 

include enough sites per tribal reservation so that the final combined safety belt use rate 

will meet the reliability requirements of NHTSA’s Section 157 guidelines.2

In addition, the sample should be realistic within the scope of resources available for this effort – 

and, by extension, if this effort is successful, make it possible for future replications to track 

changes in belt use over time and with changing legal and countermeasure conditions. 

The final recommendation asked for a total of about 150 sites to be sampled across 18 tribal 

reservations. These numbers represented our best estimate of a sampling plan meeting the criteria 

above while remaining within the project’s practical constraints. Two of the tribal reservations 

did not permit safety belt observations to be made in their territory, resulting in final data 

collection for 120 sites in 16 reservations. 

Table 1 shows, by Area, the numbers and populations of tribal reservations, totals and “available 

for sampling.” The table also shows the recommended distribution of sampled tribal reservations 

across areas. The objective of the sampling procedure was to select tribal reservations according 

to probabilities generally proportional to their populations, based on two steps: 

1. Include the Navajo reservation (Southwest Area), which has 22 percent of the total Indian 

Country population and 35 percent of the Native American population in Indian Country. 

 

2 Though this project was not conducted under Section 157, the observation plan was designed and implemented 

consistent with Section 157 guidelines so that the results would be readily interpretable.
 - 5 - 

2. Sample, from each Area, at a rate of approximately one in four tribal reservations or one 

tribal reservation per 30,000 population. 

Table 1. Indian Country Area Distribution of Tribal Reservations and Population. 

Area Total Reservations 

 Number Population 

Reservations over 2,000 Pop 

 Number Population 

Number to 

Sample 2

Southwest 1 71 322,023 21 293,301 6-1 

South Central 11 52,850 2 48,856 1 

South & East 33 33,496 6 26,369 2-1 

Northwest 29 101,425 11 94,513 3 

Northern 

Plains 

 20 162,659 17 159,293 5 

Great Lakes 13 39,797 4 37,738 1 

TOTAL 177 712,250 61 660,070 18-2 

1

 Includes Navajo Reservation in all cells. 

2

 Reflects inability to collect data on Navajo (Southwest) and Seneca Nation’s Cattaraugus (South & 

East) reservations. 

Sampling procedures were repeated within each Area and involved seven steps: 

1. Randomly reorder the list of tribal reservations so that every reservation had equal 

probability of being first, second, etc. in the list. 

2. Set each tribal reservation’s initial weight for being selected on a single selection equal to 

the proportion of the reservation’s population to the total population of all eligible 

reservations within the Area, = 

j

wij Popij Popij / , where wij = initial weight for 

selection on a single selection for reservation j within Area i, Popij = population of 

reservation j within Area i, and 

j

Popij = sum of the population of all reservations 

eligible for selection within Area i. (Within each Area, these initial weights add to exactly 

1.0.) 

3. For Areas sampling a single tribal reservation, set the selection cutoff level sij = wij. 

4. For Areas sampling more than one tribal reservation, adjust the cutoff levels to select all 

of the tribal reservations in a single sampling according to the formula: 

 (1 (1 ) ) / (1 (1 ) ) i i n

j

i ij

n sij =   wij • n   w (1) 

where sij = selection cutoff level for reservation j in Area i and ni = number of 

reservations to be selected within Area i. (Within Area i, the sum of the adjusted weights 

= ni.) In all cases, the sij cutoff levels correspond roughly to the probability of the 

reservation being included in the final sample. 

5. Generate a random number (from a rectangular distribution between 0 and 1) for each 

tribal reservation. 
 - 6 - 

6. Starting at the top of the list, select for inclusion each tribal reservation whose random 

number is less than (or equal to) its adjusted selection cutoff, up to the number required 

to be sampled. 

7. If the number of tribal reservations selected is less than the number required, select 

additional tribal reservations from the pool, selecting first the one whose random number 

exceeds its cutoff level by the least amount, etc., until the number of required tribal 

reservations has been identified. 

The resulting target sample of 18 tribal reservations, together with the proposed number of 

observation sites as described below, is shown in Table 2. Note that the Navajo and Seneca are 

shaded; they did not participate. 

Table 2. Final Sample of 18 Tribal Reservations. 

Tribe Location Area 

State 

Primary 

Law? 

Total Pop. 

% 

Native 

Amer. 1

# 

Sites 

Navajo Nation (AZ-NM-UT) Window Rock, AZ SW No/Yes 155,214 96% 27 

Ute Indian Tribe (Uintah and 

Ouray Reservation) Ft Duchesne, UT SW No 19,182 14% 9 

Gila River Pima-Maricopa Sacaton, AZ SW No 11,257 92% 7 

Pueblo of Zuni Zuni, NM SW Yes 7,758 96% 6 

Taos Pueblo Taos, NM SW Yes 4,484 30% 5 

Pueblo of Acoma Avomita, NM SW Yes 2,802 97% 4 

Osage Tribe Pawhuska, OK So-Cent Yes 44,437 14% 14 

Eastern Band of Cherokee Cherokee, NC So+East Yes 8,092 82% 6 

Seneca Nation of Indians 

[Cattaraugus Reservation] 

Erie, Chautaqua, 

Cattaraugus 

Counties, NY 

So+East Yes 2,412 88% 4 

Yakama Nation Toppenish, WA NW Yes 31,646 23% 12 

The Tulalip Tribes Marysville, WA NW Yes 9,246 22% 7 

Confederated Tribes of the 

Colville Reservation Nespelem, WA NW Yes 7,582 60% 6 

Eastern Shoshone & Arapaho 

Tribes [Wind River Reservation] Ft Washakie, WY NoPlns No 23,245 28% 10 

Rosebud Sioux Rosebud, SD NoPlns No 9,050 86% 6 

Cheyenne River Sioux Eagle Butte, SD NoPlns No 8,466 74% 6 

Crow Crow Agency, MT NoPlns No 6,894 75% 6 

Three Affiliated Tribes [Ft. 

Berthold] New Town, ND NoPlns No 5,915 67% 5 

Saginaw Chippewa [Isabella 

Reservation] Mt. Pleasant, MI GrLks Yes 25,822 5% 11 

1

 Percent of reservation’s total population that are Native American; source, 2000 U.S. Census Data. 
 - 7 - 

Site Selection 

The site selection procedure was applied independently for each tribal reservation. 

Roads in and immediately around the population centers were treated as one stratum 

(“collectors”), and the major connecting roads were treated as a second stratum (“arterials”). For 

each tribal reservation with an even number of sites, half of the final observation sites were from 

each stratum; for each tribal reservation with an odd number of sites, one stratum provided one 

more site than the other. 

In order to avoid roads with very little traffic, a structured selection of observation sites was 

made based on the use of the roads and their likely volume. Roads eligible for sampling were: 

paved or gravel (excluded dirt and unimproved); under BIA or tribal control (excludes State and 

county highways patrolled by State and county police); and collectors or arterials (excluded local 

streets). Eligible roads were divided into segments, i.e., stretches of roads between intersections 

large enough for significant changes in the road’s traffic volume or makeup. 

For each tribal reservation, lists of possible road segments were assembled from qualified road 

segments that were likely to have adequate traffic volume. Lists were based on road maps and 

input from local authorities. Population centers were identified, and the main roads within the 

centers and providing access in and out of the centers were identified. Each access road was 

included from the center out into more rural areas for a few miles. In addition, major connecting 

roads with adequate traffic but not near population centers were included. 

From the eligible roads, segments for safety belt observation were selected randomly, with the 

probability of selection proportional to the length of the segment. Specific observation points 

were selected on the segment by the observers in the field, based on ease of observing belt use 

and safety. Observation points were documented so that they could be used in future belt use 

studies. 

Traffic counts were determined for each location at the time of belt use observations. These 

counts served as our estimate of traffic density. At locations where every passing vehicle could 

be observed, the count was equal to the number of vehicles observed. Where traffic volumes 

were too heavy to permit observation of every vehicle, we conducted a ten-minute traffic count 

before belt use observations, conducted a second ten-minute count after observations, and 

weighted the number of observations as a function of the number of vehicles counted (i.e., the 

estimate of the number of vehicles that would have been observed had we been able to observe 

every vehicle). At most sites, where traffic volumes permitted, observations and traffic counts 

included traffic in both directions. 

We proposed 150 total sites. This is similar to the numbers of sites used for State belt use 

determinations, and thus was judged likely to provide a suitably stable overall estimate of belt 

use. The number of sites per tribal reservation was proportional to the square root of the 

population. The numbers are shown in Table 2 above. For example, if there are a total of 151 

observation sites (varied from the target of 150 due to rounding), there would be 27 sites on the 

Navajo Nation and 4 sites on a small reservations with just over 2,000 population. No reservation 

had fewer than 4 sites. 
 - 8 - 

We were unable to obtain permission to collect safety belt observations on the Navajo and 

Cattaraugus reservations. That left a total of 120 observation sites (the defections were confirmed 

too late to adjust the numbers of sites on other tribal reservations). Even with the smaller number 

of sites, and the large variability of belt use rates between sites and tribal reservations, the final 

overall safety belt use rate estimate met the Section 157 target for reliability. 

The calculated safety belt use percentage for each tribal reservation was the combination of belt 

use percentages at each site weighted directly by the number of vehicles passing during the 

observation period and inversely by the likelihood of selection of the segment (i.e., the segment 

length). (For sites where vehicle volume was estimated from pre- and post-observation counts, 

those estimated values were used.) For each site, the belt use percentage was the number of 

belted persons observed divided by the total number of persons for whom belt use/nonuse was 

observed. The same arithmetic was used to calculate safety belt usage for subsets, e.g., males, 

drivers, pickup drivers, or passenger-car occupants. Weights for combining sites for subsets were 

the total vehicle counts, based on the assumption that distributions of subsets are balanced across 

sites and that the total vehicle count is the most stable estimate. 

Data Collection 

Observers 

Observers were hired by Preusser Research Group. Most observers had done safety belt 

observations prior to this project. The other observers received extensive training over several 

days, first watching an expert observer, then observing in parallel, then observing with 

supervision. 

Scheduling 

Observations were conducted Monday-Sunday during daylight hours, between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. 

Scheduling was done to balance observations for time of day and day of week, with weekdays 

being considered roughly equivalent for the purposes of efficient use of observer field and travel 

time. Observations were balanced by type and time of day within Areas and, as much as 

practicable, within tribal reservations. 

Observations 

Data collection was done according to the instructions in Appendix A. Each observation period 

lasted a full hour. Survey information was recorded on an observation data collection form 

(Appendix B). The form was designed so that pertinent site information could be documented, 

including tribal reservation name, city/town/area identifier, exact roadway location, date, day of 

week, time, weather condition, and direction(s) of traffic flow and lane(s) observed. Each onepage form included space to record information for 70 vehicles, the driver of that vehicle, and the 

outboard, front seat passenger, if any. 
 - 9 - 

Calculation of Overall Safety Belt Usage Rate and Variability 

Overall Rates 

Safety belt usage rates were calculated in two stages. Within each reservation, usage was 

 = (( / )  ( / ))/(( / ))

k

ijk ijk

k

pij Vijk ijk Bijk Oijk V (2) 

where pij = safety belt usage for reservation j in Area i, k = site within the reservation, Vijk = 

weight for each road segment (site), ijk = =

ij n

k

ijLijk Lijk n

1

/ = the proportion of the length L that 

road segment ijk is of the chosen road segments in reservation j in Area i, Bijk = number of belted 

occupants (drivers and outboard, front seat passengers) observed at the site, and Oijk = total 

number of occupants observed at the site. For sites where all vehicles were observed, Vijk = the 

number of observed vehicles. For sites where the number of vehicles were estimated from 10-

minute counts before and after the observation period, Vijk = (number counted 10 minutes before 

+ number counted 10 minutes after) * 60/20, for a standard 60-minute observation period. Where 

raw counts were based on travel in both directions, they were divided in half to be comparable to 

counts based on travel in only one direction. 

Values for ijk = =

ij n

k

ijLijk Lijk n

1

/ were calculated separately within each stratum for each tribal 

reservation. The actual calculations are represented as ijkl = =

•

ijl n

k

ij Lijkl Lijkl n

1

( / 2) / , where l is the 

stratum and nij1 + nij2 = nij. The result of this was that collectors and arterials contributed equally 

to each reservation’s belt use rate estimate, regardless of differences in the total length of the 

selected collector segments versus the total length of the selected arterial segments. 

Next, the overall rate across all tribal reservations was calculated according to the formula 

 =  

i j j i

ij ij Wij p W p , ,

( )/( ) (3) 

where ij ij ij W = Pop /s , i.e., the population of tribal reservation i in Area j times the inverse of the 

selection cutoff level, where the cutoff level was approximately equal to the probability of 

including tribal reservation j of Area i in the sample. This is the directly analogous to the Section 

157 guidelines allowing population weighting in the absence of traffic volume data. 

At an informational level, calculations of belt use could also be done for subsets of the entire 

sample and population. For example, BIA and PRG were interested in belt use rates for the 

different Areas. It was also interesting to compare tribal reservations with primary safety belt 

laws versus those with secondary or no safety belt laws, and tribal reservations within States with 

primary laws versus those in States with secondary laws. 

Additionally, a large percentage of tribal reservation vehicles were pickup trucks, and in State 

belt use observations it is routinely found that belt use in pickup trucks is much less than that in 

all other passenger vehicle types. Thus it was of interest to calculate safety belt use rates for 

subsets of vehicle types, as well as male/female and driver/passenger subsets. 
 - 10 - 

All of these “subset” calculations use formulas (2) and (3) as defined above, with adjustments in 

formula (2) to Bijk and Oijk (but not Vijk) to reflect different subsets of vehicles or occupants and 

adjustments to the specific tribal reservations included in the formula (3) computations (but no 

changes to the Wij values) for different Area or other tribal reservation subsets. 

The Standard Error of the Overall Safety Belt Use Rate 

Standard error of estimate values were estimated through a jackknife approach, based on the 

general formula: 

 2 1/ 2

1

( ) ] 1

 [ p p

n

n n

i

p i   = =

(4) 

where  p  = standard deviation (standard error) of the estimated Indian Country safety belt use 

proportion p, n = the number of sites, i.e., 120, and pi = the estimated Indian Country belt use 

proportion with site i excluded from the calculation. 

The relative error rate, i.e., p p  / , also was calculated, as was the 95 percent confidence 

interval, i.e., p  p ±1.96  . These values are reported for the overall Indian Country safety belt use 

rate. 
 - 11 - 

III. Results 

Observations were done between September and November 2004 except for one tribal 

reservation, where observations were done in February 2005. Overall sample characteristics are 

shown in Table 3. A total of 10,095 vehicles were observed, with 3,495 additional passengers. 

Approximately 44 percent of the vehicles were cars, 31 percent were pickups, 14 percent were 

SUVs, and 10 percent were vans. Fifty-eight percent of drivers were male, and 38 percent were 

female; gender could not be coded for 3 percent of drivers. Fifty-three percent of passengers 

were female, just 37 percent were male, and gender could not be coded for 10 percent. 

Belt use could be coded for 90 percent of drivers and 83 percent of passengers. Somewhat higher 

percentages of unknown belt use were associated with trucks (14 percent, drivers; 24 percent, 

passengers), SUVs (13 percent, drivers; 19 percent, passengers), vans (19 percent, passengers), 

foggy conditions (17 percent, drivers; 37 percent, passengers), and rural roads (12 percent, 

drivers; 22 percent, passengers). Belt use could not be coded for about 88 percent of drivers and 

passengers whose sex could not be coded. 

Table 3. Observation Sample Overview. 

Vehicle Type Auto Pickup SUV Van Unknown TOTAL 

 4,455 3,152 1,438 1,049 1 10,095 

 44.1% 31.2% 14.2% 10.4% 0.0% 

 

Driver Sex Male Female Unknown TOTAL 

 5,876 3,873 346 10,095 

 58.2% 38.4% 3.4% 

 

Passenger Sex Male Female Unknown TOTAL 

 1,292 1,857 346 3,495 

 37.0% 53.1% 9.9% 

Because we were unable to make safety belt use observations on the Navajo reservation, the 

scope of these observations could perhaps be better described as “Indian Country Excluding 

Navajo.” 

For Indian Country Excluding Navajo, the overall safety belt use rate was 55.4 percent.

There was very large variation in belt use across tribal reservations, ranging from a low of 8.8 

percent to a high of 84.8 percent. Reflecting this variability, the standard error of measurement 

was 2.5 percent, and the relative standard error (standard error divided by average belt use) was 

4.6 percent. The 95 percent confidence interval for overall belt use was 50.5 percent to 60.4 

percent. 

As shown in Table 4, there were significant differences in belt use by vehicle type and occupant 

gender for drivers and passengers. Rates were higher for cars (58.8 percent), SUVs (62.1 

percent), and vans (57.5 percent) and much lower for pickup trucks (48.1 percent). 
 - 12 - 

Males were less likely to use safety belts than females, 52.3 percent vs. 60.3 percent. Drivers 

were somewhat more likely to be belted, at 56.6 percent, than passengers, at 51.3 percent. The 

lowest overall belt use rate was for male passengers in pickups, at just 39.1 percent. The highest 

rate was for female drivers of SUVs, 67.7 percent belted. 

Belt use also varied consistently by road type. Within towns on collector roads, overall belt use 

was 59.0 percent, while the rate on the more rural between-town arterials was 51.0 percent. 

Table 4. Safety Belt Use, by Vehicle, Occupant, Area, and Road Type. 

Drivers Passengers Total 

 Belt Use N Belt Use N Belt Use N 

All Cases 56.6% 9,064 51.3% 2,883 55.4% 11,947 

 

Vehicle Type 

Auto 60.3% 4,122 53.7% 1,431 58.8% 5,553 

Pickup 49.2% 2,723 43.9% 736 48.1% 3,459 

SUV 63.5% 1,265 56.1% 392 62.1% 1,657 

Van 58.5% 954 54.7% 324 57.5% 1,278 

 

Occupant Sex 

Male 54.0% 5,377 44.4% 1,154 52.3% 6,531 

Female 61.3% 3,646 56.7% 1,684 60.3% 5,330 

 

Area and Road Type 

Urban/Collector 59.5% 5,182 57.2% 1,662 59.0% 6,844 

Rural/Arterial 52.2% 3,882 47.9% 1,221 51.0% 5,103 

 

Areas 

Three of the had multiple tribal reservations. The Northern Plains area had the five lowest belt 

use rates and averaged just 27.6 percent belt use across all five. Great Lakes and Northwest had 

the highest belt use; three of the four reservations in those two areas had the highest individual 

belt use rates observed. Of the five reservations in the Southwest, three had moderate belt use 

figures, while the other two had rates above 75 percent, among the highest for Indian Country. 

Belt Use Laws 

Another indication of belt use is the kind of safety belt law. There are two kinds of belt use laws 

that may affect use rates: the safety belt law of the tribal reservation itself and the safety belt law 

of the State in which the tribal reservation is located. Data were examined both ways. 

Nine tribal reservations had primary safety belt laws; in them, 68.6 percent of vehicle occupants 

were belted. By comparison, three tribal reservations had secondary belt laws; they averaged 
 - 13 - 

53.2 percent belt use. For the four tribal reservations with no belt use law of any kind, only 26.4 

percent of the vehicle occupants were belted. 

Also, nine tribal reservations were located in States with primary belt use laws. Those nine tribal 

reservations were the nine with best use rates; they averaged 72.8 percent belted occupants. The 

remaining seven tribal reservations, in States with secondary belt use laws, were the lowestusage tribal reservations; they averaged just 33.3 percent buckled occupants. 
 - 14 - 

IV. Discussion 

This is the first time safety belt use has been systematically measured across a representative 

sample of Indian reservations. The procedure is well documented, and it can be replicated in the 

future to provide a moving picture of safety belt use in Indian Country. It will be a useful tool 

when combined with safety belt initiatives. 

Safety belt use in Indian Country varies greatly from tribal reservation to tribal reservation. 

Figures from individual tribal reservations must be taken as only indications of their true rates, 

because the sampling plan was designed to provide a reliable estimate of belt use across all of 

Indian Country, not on individual tribal reservations. However, the recorded figures ranged from 

less than 10 percent to almost 85 percent, a difference so large as to make it unmistakable that 

different tribal reservations are fundamentally different in their approach to and success at 

encouraging safety belt use. 

The tribal reservations with the highest belt use rates had rates comparable to general U.S. belt 

use rates (both the national rate, derived from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey and 

individual State rates), so it is quite possible for the Native American governments to achieve 

high levels of encouraging belt use. Figures for other tribal reservations suggest that their 

governments have done little or nothing toward achieving high belt use. 

One of the indicators of high belt use is the presence of a primary safety belt law. Reservations 

with primary laws had higher belt use than tribal reservations with secondary laws, and their belt 

use was higher than tribal reservations with no belt laws. The belt laws of the States in which the 

tribal reservations were located were also highly correlated with reservation belt use – and with 

reservation belt laws. Belt use laws don’t exist unless there is a will within the community, and 

stronger belt use laws have regularly been followed with increased belt use. Adding primary belt 

laws in tribal reservations lacking them could “kick-start” improvements in belt use. 

There are differences in belt use by vehicle type and occupant gender, similar to findings in State 

belt use surveys. Occupants of pickup trucks use safety belts less often than occupants of other 

vehicles, and males buckle up less than females. Also, passengers tend to buckle up less than 

drivers. As has been noted in other reports, male pickup drivers and passengers would be the 

target group in need of the greatest improvement. They also seem to be the group most resistant 

to previous efforts, so they present the greatest challenge to new efforts – efforts that, even 

though primarily targeting males in pickups, may increase belt use in all groups. 

NHTSA is funding two initiatives to raise the belt use on tribal reservations. First, a law 

enforcement liaison has been hired by the BIA’s Indian Highway Safety Program to promote 

Tribal law enforcement support for occupant protection laws and increasing enforcement efforts 

in conjunction with NHTSA’s Click It Or Ticket mobilizations and on-going traffic safety 

enforcement efforts. Second, the BIA will conduct a demonstration project to develop, test, and 

evaluate program strategies that can be used in grant solicitations to fund occupant protection 

projects in Indian Country. This model program will identify the best mix of activities that have 

the greatest potential to work in tribal communities to increase safety belt use. 

It is unfortunate the Navajo did not grant permission to observe on the their reservation. 

Representing about 16 percent of the population of qualifying Indian Country reservations, and 
 - 15 - 

40 percent of the intended sample population, the Navajo reservation would have been an 

important addition to this measurement effort. It is hoped they can be added to any subsequent 

Indian Country belt use measurements. 
 A - 1 

Appendix A. Safety Belt Observation Instructions 

Qualifying vehicles include passenger automobiles, pickup trucks, recreational vehicles, jeeps, or vans 

(private, public and commercial). Pickup trucks should be coded as “trucks.” Jeeps, Broncos, Blazers, and 

other vehicles of that type should be coded as sport utility vehicles. Eligible vehicles should be observed 

regardless of the State in which they are registered. 

Belt use will be observed for front seat occupants only. Observe and record data for the driver and 

passenger seated closest to the right side of the front seat. If there is more than one front seat passenger, 

observe only the “outside” passenger. The passenger observed need not be in the seat closest to the 

passenger door, just the passenger closest to that position. Do not record data for passengers in the back 

seat or for a third passenger riding in the middle of the front seat. 

If a child is present in the front seat in a child restraint seat, do not record anything. However, children riding 

in the front seat, regardless of age, who are not in child restraint seats should be observed as any other 

front seat passenger. If a child is seated on the lap of the right-most seated passenger, code the gender of 

the lap-owner and N for belt use. 

Each observation period will last for exactly 60 minutes. 

The following procedures will be used in conducting observations of safety belt use: 

1. As you observe a qualifying vehicle, record the type of vehicle (car, truck, SUV, van), the occupants’ sex 

(male or female), and shoulder restraint use (yes or no) of the front seat occupants (driver and front seat 

“outside” passenger only). 

2. If you notice a lap belt in use without a shoulder belt, it should be recorded as not restrained. Only shoulder 

belts are to be counted. Even if the vehicle likely has no shoulder belts, code the occupant(s) as not 

restrained. 

3. If the person is using the shoulder belt improperly, e.g., has the shoulder strap under his/her arm or behind 

the back, this should be recorded as not restrained. 

4. If traffic is light enough and you can see well, observe traffic moving in both directions (and indicate it by 

circling both directions on the form). 

5. If you are observing a multiple-lane roadway, if traffic is light enough and you can see well, observe traffic in 

all lanes. If traffic is too heavy, observe traffic in one lane at a time, each lane for an equal amount of time, 

and in the direction specified, throughout the 60-minute observation time-period. 

6. In many situations, it will be possible to observe every vehicle in the designated lane(s). However, if there is 

too much traffic for you to observe every vehicle, you should determine a reference point up the road in the 

appropriate lane. Observe the next vehicle to pass the reference point after the last vehicle has been coded. 

7. If you believe there will be too many vehicles to code every one, for 10 minutes immediately before the 

observation period and for 10 minutes immediately after the observation period, count all passenger 

vehicles as they pass and write the two tallies on the first data page. 

8. Do not observe if it is raining or foggy or if other inclement weather arises. If you arrive at a site and it begins 

to rain, do not collect data in the rain. Find a dry place and wait 15 minutes to see if the rain stops. If the rain 

does stop, begin observing again and extend the observation period to make up for the time missed. 

Otherwise, you will have to reschedule the site. (Note: observer may continue observations in light fog, 

drizzle, or mist). 

9. If more than one data sheet are used, staple the sheets together at the end of the observation period and 

note the number of sheets used at the top of the first data page. 

10. It may happen that the site you are assigned is seriously compromised due to construction. If this occurs, 

you may move one block in either direction on the same street such that you are observing the same stream 

of traffic that would have normally been observed had there been no obstruction. If moving one block will not 

solve the problem, then do not conduct the observation, but follow procedures for identifying and observing 

at an alternative site.
 B - 1 

Appendix B. Native American Safety Belt Observation Data Collection Form 

The form, front and back, is shown on the next two pages, full size and without document headers/footers. 
Seat Belt Observation Data Collection Form 

SITE NUMBER: __________ SITE: 

NOTES: 

 WEATHER 

DATE: _______ - _______ - _______ DAY OF WEEK: _________________ 1 Clear / Sunny 4 Fog 

 2 Light Rain 5 Wet But Not 

DIRECTION OF TRAFFIC FLOW (Circle one or two): N S E W START TIME:_____________ (Exactly 1 Hour Observation) 3 Cloudy Raining 

DRIVER PASSENGER DRIVER PASSENGER 

Veh. 

# 

Vehicle 

C = car 

T = truck 

S = suv 

V = van 

Sex

M = male 

F = female 

U = unsure 

Use 

Y = yes 

N = no 

U = unsure 

Sex

M = male 

F = female 

U = unsure 

Use 

Y = yes 

N = no 

U = unsure 

Veh. 

# 

Vehicle 

C = car 

T = truck 

S = suv 

V = van 

Sex

M = male 

F = female 

U = unsure 

Use 

Y = yes 

N = no 

U = unsure 

Sex

M = male 

F = female 

U = unsure 

Use 

Y = yes 

N = no 

U = unsure 

1 36 

2 37 

3 38 

4 39 

5 40 

6 41 

7 42 

8 43 

9 44 

10 45 

11 46 

12 47 

13 48 

14 49 

15 50 

16 51 

17 52 

18 53 

19 54 

20 55 

21 56 

22 57 

23 58 

24 59 

25 60 

26 61 

27 62 

28 63 

29 64 

30 65 

31 66 

32 67 

33 68 

34 69 

35 70 

 NATIVE AMERICAN SEAT BELT SURVEY FORM 2004

Supplementary vehicle counts: 10 minutes prior: ___________ 10 minutes after: ___________ 
Vehicle count based on ____________ lanes out of ____________ in { one both } direction(s). Page:_______ of________ 
NOTES:____________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

________________________________

____________________________ 

GPS COORDINATES 

N___________________ 

W___________________ 

Altitude_____________ft 

Site Location Diagram 
 C - 1 

Appendix C. “Indian Country” Reservations with 2000+ Population 

Population

Total Native 

American

Pct Nat. 

Am.

Saginaw Chippewa [Isabella Resvn] Mt Pleasant, MI GrLks 25,822 1,397 5.4%

Red Lake Band of Chippewa Red Lake, MN GrLks 5,162 5,071 98.2%

Keweenaw Bay [L'Anse] Baraga, MI GrLks 3,538 850 24.0%

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Keshena, WI GrLks 3,216 3,061 95.2%

Confederated Salish and Kootenai [Flathead] Pablo, MT NoPlns 26,172 6,999 26.7%

Eastern Shoshone & Arapaho Tribes [Wind River Rsvn] Ft Washakie, WY NoPlns 23,245 6,542 28.1%

Oglala Sioux [Pine Ridge Rsvn] (SD, NE) Pine Ridge, SD NoPlns 14,068 12,985 92.3%

Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe [Lake Traverse] [(ND-SD) Agency Village, ND NoPlns 10,408 3,453 33.2%

Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Poplar, MT NoPlns 10,321 6,391 61.9%

Blackfeet Browning, MT NoPlns 10,100 8,507 84.2%

Rosebud Sioux Rosebud, SD NoPlns 9,050 7,747 85.6%

Cheyenne River Sioux Eagle Butte, SD NoPlns 8,466 6,249 73.8%

Standing Rock Sioux (ND-SD) Fort Yates, SD NoPlns 8,250 5,964 72.3%

Crow Crow Agency, MT NoPlns 6,894 5,165 74.9%

Yankton Sioux Tribe Marty, SD NoPlns 6,500 2,633 40.5%

Three Affiliated Tribes [Ft. Berthold] New Town, ND NoPlns 5,915 3,986 67.4%

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Belcourt, ND NoPlns 5,815 5,601 96.3%

Northern Cheyenne Lame Deer, MT NoPlns 4,470 4,029 90.1%

Spirit Lake [Devils Lake Rsvn] Fort Totten, ND NoPlns 4,435 3,317 74.8%

Fort Belknap Harlem, MT NoPlns 2,959 2,790 94.3%

Crow Creek Sioux Fort Thompson, SD NoPlns 2,225 1,936 87.0%

Yakama Nation Toppenish, WA NWst 31,646 7,289 23.0%

Nez Perce Lapwai, ID NWst 17,959 2,101 11.7%

The Tulalip Tribes Marysville, WA NWst 9,246 2,049 22.2%

Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Nespelem, WA NWst 7,582 4,528 59.7%

Coeur D'Alene Plummer, ID NWst 6,551 1,251 19.1%

Shoshone-Bannock Fort Hall, ID NWst 5,760 3,648 63.3%

Lumni Indian Nations Bellingham, WA NWst 4,193 2,114 50.4%

Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Auburn, WA NWst 3,597 1,033 28.7%

Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation Warm Springs, OR NWst 3,311 3,038 91.8%

Swinomish Indian Tribe LaConner, WA NWst 2,664 617 23.2%

Spokane Tribe of Indians Wellpinit, WA NWst 2,004 1,533 76.5%

Osage Tribe Pawhuska, OK So-Cent 44,437 6,410 14.4%

Kickapoo Horton, KS So-Cent 4,419 714 16.2%

Eastern Band of Cherokee Cherokee, NC So-East 8,092 6,665 82.4%

Seneca Nation of Indians (Allegany Resvn) Cattaraugus County, NY So-East 6,804 1,297 19.1%

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Philadelphia, MS So-East 4,311 4,087 94.8%

Akwesasne Mohawk Tribe (St. Regis Mohawk) Hogansburg, NY So-East 2,699 2,629 97.4%

Seneca Nation of Indians (Cattaraugus Resvn) Erie, Chautaqua, Cattaraugus 

Counties, NY So-East 2,412 2,125 88.1%

Seminole Tribe Hollywood, FL So-East 2,051 538 26.2%

Navajo Nation (AZ-NM-UT) Window Rock, AZ SWst 155,214 149,423 96.3%

Ute Indian Tribe (Uintah and Ouray Resvn) Ft Duchesne, UT SWst 19,182 2,780 14.5%

White Mountain Apache [Ft. Apache] Whiteriver, AZ SWst 12,429 11,702 94.2%

Gila River Pima-Maricopa Sacaton, AZ SWst 11,257 10,353 92.0%

Southern Ute Ignacio, CO SWst 11,159 1,433 12.8%

Santa Clara Pueblo Espanola, NM SWst 10,658 1,329 12.5%

Tohono O'odham Sells, AZ SWst 10,483 9,417 89.8%

San Carlos Apache San Carlos, AZ SWst 9,385 8,921 95.1%

Pueblo of Zuni Zuni, NM SWst 7,758 7,426 95.7%

Hopi Kykotsmovi, AZ SWst 6,815 6,442 94.5%

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Scottsdale, AZ SWst 6,405 3,366 52.6%

Taos Pueblo Taos, NM SWst 4,484 1,331 29.7%

Pueblo of Laguna Laguna, NM SWst 3,815 3,669 96.2%

Pascua Yaqui Tuscon, AZ SWst 3,315 3,002 90.6%

Pueblo of San Felipe San Felipe, NM SWst 3,185 2,465 77.4%

Pueblo of Santo Domingo Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM SWst 3,166 3,085 97.4%

Pueblo of Isleta Isleta, NM SWst 3,166 2,675 84.5%

Mescalero Apache Mescalero, NM SWst 3,156 2,888 91.5%

Pueblo of Acoma Avomita, NM SWst 2,802 2,723 97.2%

Jicarilla Apache Tribe Dulce, NM SWst 2,755 2,475 89.8%

Pojoaque Pueblo Santa Fe, NM SWst 2,712 264 9.7%

Tribe/Reservation Related Location Area
 D - 1 

Appendix D. “Indian Country” Reservations with Less Than 2000 

Population 

Population

Total Native 

American

Pct Nat. 

Am.

Jemez Pueblo Jemez Pueblo, NM SWst 1,958 1,941 99.1%

Picuris Pueblo Penasco, NM SWst 1,801 166 9.2%

Nambe Pueblo Santa Fe, NM SWst 1,765 455 25.8%

Pyramid Lake Paiute Nixon, NV SWst 1,734 1,221 70.4%

Ute Moutain Towaoc, CO SWst 1,687 1,609 95.4%

Chippewa-Cree [Rocky Boy's] Box Elder, MT NoPlns 1,605 1,542 96.1%

San Ildefonso Pueblo Santa Fe, NM SWst 1,524 528 34.6%

Pueblo of Cochiti Cochiti, NM SWst 1,502 695 46.3%

Onondaga Nation Nedrwo, NY So+East 1,473 763 51.8%

Quinault Taholah, WA NWst 1,370 1,051 76.7%

Makah Neah Bay, WA NWst 1,356 1,083 79.9%

Hualapai Peach Springs, AZ SWst 1,353 1,253 92.6%

Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Lower Brule, SD NoPlns 1,353 1,237 91.4%

Duck Valley Resvn (NV, ID) (Shoshone and Paiute) Owyhee, NV, NV SWst 1,265 998 78.9%

Prairie Band Potawatomie Tribe Mayetta, KS So-Cent 1,238 518 41.8%

Tuscarora Tribe Lewiston, NY So+East 1,138 311 27.3%

Cocopah Somerton, AZ SWst 1,025 519 50.6%

Reno-Sparks Reno, NV SWst 881 830 94.2%

Walker River Paiute Schurz, NV SWst 853 667 78.2%

Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Fountain Hills, AZ SWst 824 755 91.6%

Fort Mojave (AZ,CA, NV) Needles, CA SWst 813 363 44.6%

Tesque Pueblo Santa Fe County, NM SWst 806 355 44.0%

Yavapai Apache Prescott, AZ SWst 743 650 87.5%

Fallon Colony+Fallon Resvn Fallon, NV SWst 743 639 86.0%

Ak-Chin Maricopa Maricopa, AZ SWst 742 652 87.9%

Skokomish Tribe Shelton, WA NWst 730 510 69.9%

Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians Nevada (Elko

Colony) Elko, NV SWst 729 627 86.0%

Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe Kingston, WA NWst 699 505 72.2%

Chehalis Oakville, WA NWst 691 388 56.2%

Indian Twp Resvn Maine So+East 676 564 83.4%

Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Nett Lake, MN GrLks 657 464 70.6%

Pueblo of Zia Zia Pueblo, NM SWst 646 645 99.8%

Pleasant Point Resvn Maine So+East 640 567 88.6%

Sac & Fox Tama, IA So-Cent 616 579 94.0%

Bay Mills Brimley, MI GrLks 605 472 78.0%

Nisqually Indian Tribe Oympia, WA NWst 588 357 60.7%

Seminole Tribe [Brighton] Okeechobee, FL So+East 566 449 79.3%

Penobscot Indian Nation Old Town, ME So+East 562 477 84.9%

Tonawanda Band of Seneca Bason, NY So+East 543 210 38.7%

Havasupai Supai, AZ SWst 503 453 90.1%

Catawba Tribe Rock Hill, SC So+East 494 362 73.3%

Santa Ana Pueblo Sandavol County, NM SWst 487 473 97.1%

Alabama and Coushatta Livingston, TX So-Cent 480 463 96.5%

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo El Paso, TX So-Cent 421 300 71.3%

Kickapoo Traditional Tribes of Texas Eagle Pass, TX So-Cent 420 406 96.7%

Chitimacha Charenton, LA So-Cent 409 285 69.7%

Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe Flandreau, SD NoPlns 408 326 79.9%

Quileute Nation LaPosh, WA NWst 371 307 82.7%

Sault Ste Marie Chippewa Sault Ste. Marie, MI GrLks 354 290 81.9%

Mashantucket Pequot Mashantucket, CT So+East 325 227 69.8%

Dresslerville Colony (Washoe Indians) Gardnerville, NV SWst 315 287 91.1%

Ft McDermit Paiute & Shoshone McDermitt, NV SWst 309 301 97.4%

Hannahville Wilson, MI GrLks 295 253 85.8%

Carson Colony Carson City, NV SWst 286 241 84.3%

Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah Cedar City, UT SWst 270 250 92.6%

Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Port Angeles, WA NWst 260 208 80.0%

Upper Skagit Indian Tribe Sedro-Wolley, WA NWst 238 180 75.6%

Tribe/Reservation Related Location Area
 D - 2 

Population

Total Native 

American

Pct Nat. 

Am.

Sac and Fox (NE, KS) Reserve, KS So-Cent 217 49 22.6%

Moapa Band of Paiute Moapa, NV SWst 206 165 80.1%

Kalispel Usk, WA NWst 206 180 87.4%

Kaibab-Paiute Fredonia, AZ SWst 196 131 66.8%

Stewart Colony Carson City, NV SWst 196 150 76.5%

Yavapai-Prescott Prescott, AZ SWst 182 117 64.3%

Immokalee Reservation Collier County, FL So+East 175 142 81.1%

Iowa Tribe of KS & NE White Cloud, KS So-Cent 168 99 58.9%

Poarch Creek Indians (AL+FL) Altmore, AL So+East 156 98 62.8%

Duckwater Shoshone Duckwater, NV SWst 149 116 77.9%

Seminole Tribe [Big Cypress] Hendry County, FL So+East 142 110 77.5%

Yerington Paiute Yerington, NV SWst 139 124 89.2%

Houlton Maliseet Band (Trust Land) Houton, ME So+East 136 111 81.6%

Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Watersmeet, MI GrLks 135 113 83.7%

Ely Indian Colony Ely, NV SWst 133 87 65.4%

Tonto Apache Payson, AZ SWst 132 115 87.1%

Battle Mountain Band Colony Battle Mountain, NV SWst 124 112 90.3%

Las Vegas Paiuate Tribe Las Vegas, NV SWst 108 100 92.6%

Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation Ibapah, UT SWst 105 97 92.4%

Lovelock Paiute Lovelock, NV SWst 103 86 83.5%

Hoh Indian Tribe Clallam County, WA NWst 102 81 79.4%

Stillaguamish Arlingtn, WA NWst 102 76 74.5%

Yomba Shoshone Austin, NV SWst 96 89 92.7%

South Fork Band Lee, NV SWst 83 77 92.8%

Kootenai Tribe of Idaho Bonners Ferry, ID NWst 75 71 94.7%

Chehalis, Chinook & Quinault (Shoalwater Resvn) Pacific County, WA NWst 70 44 62.9%

Winnemucca Indian Colony Humbolt County, NV SWst 62 44 71.0%

Narragansett Indian Tribe Washington County, RI So+East 60 9 15.0%

Wells Band Council Wells, NV SWst 54 39 72.2%

Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe Darrington, WA NWst 45 35 77.8%

Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians Grantsville, UT SWst 31 30 96.8%

Oneida Indian Nation of NY Vernon, NY So+East 26 14 53.8%

Coushatta Elton, LA So-Cent 25 20 80.0%

Summit Lake Paiute Winnemucca, NV SWst 15 11 73.3%

Huron Potawatomi Fulton, MI GrLks 11 9 81.8%

Seneca Nation of Indians (Oil Springs Resvn) Allegany & Cattaraugus Counties,

NY So+East 11 0 0.0%

Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe Sequim, WA NWst 9 0 0.0%

Mohegan Tribe Uncasville, CT So+East 2 0 0.0%

Fort Pierce Resvn St. Lucie Co, FL So+East 2 0 0.0%

Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Manistee, MI GrLks 2 0 0.0%

Miccosukee Miami, FL So+East *

Tampa Reservation Hillsborough, FL So+East *

Coconut Creek Resvn Broward County, FL So+East *

Northwestern Band of Shoshoni Nation Pocatello, ID NWst *

Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Petoskey, MI GrLks *

San Juan Southern Paiute Tuba City, AZ SWst *

Seminole Tribe Broward County, FL So+East *

Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokees Dawsonville, GA So+East *

Mashpee Wampanoag Trust Land Mashpee, MA So+East *

Matvh-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Dorr, MI GrLks *

Canoncito Navajo Chapter Canoncito, NM SWst *

Ramah Navajo Ramah, NM SWst *

Goshute Pauite Tribe of Utah & Nevada Ibapah, UT SWst *

Monacan Indian Tribe Monroe, VA So+East *

Nansemond Indian Tribe Chesapeake, VA So+East *

United Rappahannock Tribe Indian Neck, VA So+East *

Snoqualmie Tribal Org Fall City, WA NWst *

* Reservation not listed in Census 2000.

Tribe/Reservation Related Location Area
Office of Research and Technology

DOT HS 809 921

October 2005