Search NHTSA 

Browse Topics

Aggressive Driving

Bicycles

Child Passenger Safety

Click It or Ticket

Disabled Drivers & Passengers

Drowsy & Distracted Driving

Emergency Medical Services

Enforcement and Justice Services

Impaired Driving

Motorcycles

New Drivers

Occupant Protection

Older Drivers

Pedestrians

Programs/Grants

Research & Evaluation

Safe Communities

Safety Materials Catalog

School Buses

Traffic Tech Publications

Quick Clicks

Child Safety Seats

Locate a Child Seat Fitting Station

Child Seat "Ease of Use" Ratings

File a Complaint About Your Vehicle or Child Seat

Press Room

Newest Studies and Reports

Fuel Economy

Speed-Related Information

Recalls, Defects and Complaints Databases

Teen Drivers

About NHTSA

Contact NHTSA

<< Traffic Safety 

<< Back Print Version

Differential Safety Belt Use by Time of Day

. 

Safety belt use in the United States has risen steadily over recent years. The national safety belt 

usage rate in 2003 was 79 percent, a 4-percentage-point increase over the 75 percent usage rate 

in 2002. In 2004, the national safety belt usage rate rose to 80 percent. Analyses of data from 

the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), however, has shown that among fatally injured 

front-seat outboard occupants of passenger vehicles, the safety belt usage rate was between 42 

and 46 percent for the years 1999 to 2003. 

One possibility for this discrepancy is that reported safety belt usage rates are in fact daytime belt

usage rates. Observations of belt usage occur exclusively during daylight hours and therefore

exclude safety belt use at night. It has long been suspected that nighttime belt use is lower than

daytime belt use. If that were the case, a higher fatal crash rate at night would exacerbate the

impact of the lower rate of safety belt usage at night. 

FARS Analysis of Connecticut’s Crash Data

The figure below illustrates the results of an analysis of FARS 2000 crash data for front-seat

passengers in Connecticut that shows daytime and nighttime belt use in fatal crashes. Belt use

among fatally injured front-seat occupants of passenger vehicles declines steadily, from its 10 a.m.

daytime peak until 2 a.m. when it reaches 27 percent—the lowest point. 

Percent Belted Fatally Injured by Hour of Day In Connecticut, 2000 

(Source: FARS)

In 2004, in order to document the difference in daytime and nighttime safety belt use, the National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted observations of nighttime safety belt use in

Connecticut. Preusser Research Group (PRG) conducted this survey concurrent with Connecticut’s

annual, full, statewide daytime belt use survey. 

The day observations versus night observations were nearly identical with respect to observation

procedures and location. They differed primarily with respect to time of day. PRG conducted day

and night observations twice, once pre- and once post- Connecticut’s May 2004 Click It or Ticket

(CIOT) mobilization. 

Observed Day and Night Belt Use

The sample sites used in the night (9 p.m. – 3:59 a.m.) belt observations were the same sites

approved for use in Connecticut’s Safety Incentive Grant for Use of Seat Belts (23 U.S.C. 157) full,

statewide belt use survey. For both day and night surveys there were 100 sites in seven of 

Connecticut’s eight counties. These counties contain 97 percent of the State’s population. The

daytime procedures followed the section 157 Uniform Criteria for State Observational Surveys of

Seat Belt Use (23 C.F.R. 1340). PRG developed the nighttime procedures to mimic the guideline

set forth for daytime observations. 

Prior to Connecticut’s May 2004 Click It or Ticket mobilization campaign, the researchers

conducted “mini” statewide observations of 17 sites, all of which were also part of the full

statewide survey. The researchers designed this mini-survey to provide a “snapshot” of 

Connecticut belt use. Immediately following the mobilization, PRG conducted a second round of

observations using all 100 sites included in Connecticut’s statewide safety belt survey. 

Special Night Vision Equipment

 Number 305 January 2006

Traffic Tech Publications | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) | U.S. Department of Tr... Page 1 of 3

http://web.archive.org/web/20090130184106/http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/m... 08/29/12
The observers used sophisticated night vision equipment to conduct the nighttime observations.

This allowed for vision in both light and dark areas. To supplement this equipment, handheld

infrared spotlights, visible only with the use of the night vision goggles and not to the human eye,

further illuminated the scene to make vehicle occupants visible for belt observations even in tota

darkness. Two-person teams conducted the observations, with one person observing traffic and

the other recording the results as stated by the observer. 

Percent Observed Belted Pre- and Post- Click It or TicketCampaign by 

Time of Day

The results of the day and nighttime surveys showed that the daytime safety belt usage rate was

83 percent compared to a nighttime usage rate of 76.6 percent. The safety belt usage rate was

6.4 percentage points lower at night than during the day. 

The greatest difference in belt use by time of day was for SUV occupants, where belt use was

almost 9 percentage points lower at night. Pickup truck occupant belt use, while lowest of the

vehicle types, showed the smallest difference between day and night belt use. 

Urban and Rural Areas

The difference between daytime and nighttime observed belt usage rates in Connecticut is much

greater in urban areas. It is likely that the population of drivers is different during the day.

Drivers in cities during the day may live in the outlying suburbs and commute to and from the city.

Connecticut suburbs are generally more affluent than Connecticut cities. By nighttime, these

drivers have returned to the less urban roads. Regardless, belt use on Connecticut urban roadways

at night is substantially lower than during the day. An analysis of FARS data showed a similar

pattern among fatally injured front-seat occupants, with no difference between day and night

safety belt use on rural roads. On urban roads, there was a 15-percentage-point difference in use

rates during the day and night (55% versus 40%). 

Click It or TicketMobilization Affected Areas

The researchers compared belt use both pre- and post-CIOT campaign. The pre-campaign data

came from the 17 “mini” sites. The post-campaign data contained the full 100 sites that included

the 17 mini-sites. 

There was a smaller—yet still significant—difference between day and night belt use following the

mobilization than before. Thus, the Click It or Ticket daytime enforcement and media campaign

appeared to have an impact on nighttime safety belt use, as it has also been shown to do during

daylight hours. 

Percent Observed Belt Use by Time of Day

 

Additionally, it appears that “daytime” enforcement of safety belt use as shown in the national Click

It or Ticket campaign ads may influence nighttime belt use. The researchers noted, however, that

most, if not all, of the television commercials used by Connecticut depicted police officers at night

(in an urban environment) issuing tickets for safety belt violations. It is unclear whether the

change in belt use at night was caused by this advertising, the daytime enforcement alone, or a

combination of both. 

Vehicle Type

 

Night

 

Day

 

Car

 

74.5% (N = 

6,516) 

 

82.1% 

(N=17,315) 

 

Pickup

 

56.6% (N = 512) 

 

62.3% (N = 

2,521) 

 

SUV

 

76% (N = 1,431) 

 

84.8% (N = 

5,293) 

 

Van

 

72.4% (N = 615) 

 

79.5% (N = 

3,133) 

 

Total

 

73.6% (N=9,074) 

 

80.5% 

(N=28,262) 

 

Traffic Tech Publications | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) | U.S. Department of Tr... Page 2 of 3

http://web.archive.org/web/20090130184106/http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/m... 08/29/12
It would appear that law enforcement should give consideration to the importance of efforts to

increase belt use at night, especially in urban areas, given the much higher per mile crash rate

that occurs at night. 

How To Order

For a copy of Connecticut’s Day and Night Safety Belt Use (17 pages) write to the Office of 

Research and Technology, NHTSA, NTI-130, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590; or 

send a fax to 202-366-7096; or download the document from www.nhtsa.dot.gov. Linda

Cosgrove, Ph.D., was the contract manager. 

TRAFFIC TECH is published to disseminate information about traffic safety programs, including

evaluations, innovative programs, and new publications. Feel free to copy it as you wish. If you

would like to receive a copy, contact Patricia Ellison-Potter, Ph.D., Editor, by fax at 202-366-7096,

or e-mail at patricia.ellison-potter@nhtsa.dot.gov. 

 

Web Policies & Notices | Terms of Use | FOIA | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Accessibility | Email NHTSA 

Traffic Tech Publications | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) | U.S. Department of Tr... Page 3 of 3

http://web.archive.org/web/20090130184106/http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/m... 08/29/12