Traffic Safety Facts

Traffic Tech – Technology Transfer Series

Number 364 February 2009

U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Background

The	 National	 Highway	 Traffic	 Safety	 Administration	

(NHTSA)	conducts	a	national	telephone	survey	on	a	periodic	 basis	 to	 monitor	 the	 public’s	 attitudes,	 knowledge,	

and	self-reported	behavior	regarding	use	of	seat	belts	and	

child	 occupant	 restraints.	 The	 2007	 Motor	 Vehicle	 Occupant	 Safety	 Survey	 (MVOSS)	 was	 the	 sixth	 in	 the	 series,	

which	 began	 in	 1994.	 It	 was	 composed	 of	 two	 questionnaires,	each	administered	to	a	randomly	selected	sample	of	

approximately	6,000	people	age	16	and	older,	with	younger	

ages	over-sampled.	Interviewing	ran	from	January	9,	2007,	

through	April	30,	2007.

Seat Belt Use When Driving

 Almost	9	in	10	drivers	(88%)	reported	using	a	seat	belt	all of 

the time	when	driving,	which	was	an	increase	over	the	84%	

obtained	in	2003	when	the	survey	was	last	administered.	

The	vast	majority	of	seat	belts	in	the	driver	seating	position	were	one-piece	(95%),	usually	a	one-piece	manual	lap	

and	shoulder	belt	(83%).	Five	percent	of	driver	seat	belts	

were	two-piece	(separate	lap	and	shoulder	belts).	For	twopiece	belt	systems,	drivers	were	much	more	likely	to	use	

a	lap	belt	all the time	if	the	shoulder	belt	was	manual	(92%)	

rather	than	automatic	(68%).		

 Reported	all the time	use	was	lower	for	males	(85%),	males	

in	 the	 heaviest	 weight	 quartile	 (82%),	 drivers	 ages	 16	 to	

24	(81%),	pickup	truck	drivers	(79%),	and	drivers	in	rural	

areas	(80%).	

 Six	percent	of	drivers	who	said	they	wore	a	seat	belt	all the 

time	also	said	they	had	not	worn	a	seat	belt	while	driving	

in	the	past	day	or	week.	Seventy	percent	of	self-reported	

most of the time	 users	 made	 the	 same	 admission.	 These	

findings	are	consistent	with	previous	years.

 The	 survey	 showed	 continued	 penetration	 of	 adjustable	

shoulder	belts	into	the	vehicle	fleet,	with	58%	of	drivers	

now	saying	they	had	them	in	their	primary	vehicle	compared	to	52%	in	2003.	If	drivers	used	the	adjustable	feature	

(67%),	 they	 usually	 were	 able	 to	 make	 themselves	 more	

comfortable	(94%).

 About	one-third	of	drivers	(35%)	said	they	at	least	sometimes	drive	as	a	part	of	a	job	or	business.	More	than	half	

of	these	drivers	(56%)	believed	their	company	had	a	policy	

requiring	seat	belt	use	when	driving	on	the	job.	Drivers	

were	more	likely	to	report	higher	seat	belt	use	on	the	job	

compared	to	their	personal	driving	if	they	believed	their	

company	had	a	seat	belt	policy.

Drivers’ Job versus Personal Seat Belt Use by 

Presence of Company Policy

Has Policy No Known Policy

0%

10%

20%

21%

14%

76%

80%

3% 4%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Less Likely 

On Job

Just As 

Likely

More Likey 

On Job

Reasons for Use and Nonuse

 Safety	remained	the	foremost	reason	that	drivers	gave	for	

wearing	seat	belts.	Almost	all	drivers	(95%)	considered	it	

to	be	a	contributing	reason,	and	nearly	two-thirds	(64%)	

said	that	avoiding	serious	injury	was	the	most	important	

reason	why	they	used	seat	belts.

 The	most	common	reasons	for	non-use	were	short	trips	

and	 forgetting.	 About	 three-fifths	 of	 drivers	 (59%)	 said	

they	sometimes	did	not	wear	a	seat	belt	because	they	were	

only	driving	a	short	distance,	with	27%	saying	it	was	the	

2007 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey (MVOSS) Gives 

Status Report on Attitudes and Support for Seat Belt Use
main	reason	when	they	don’t	use	a	seat	belt.	Forgetting	to	

put	the	seat	belt	on	ranked	second,	with	52%	identifying	

this	as	a	contributing	reason	and	22%	as	the	most	important	reason.

Most Important Reasons for Non-Use of Seat Belts 

– Drivers

0% 10% 20% 30%

27%

22%

9%

7%

5%

4%

1%

1%

1%

6%

No Reason Given 14%

Other Reasons

Others Not Wearing Them

Wrinkled Clothes

Light Traffic

Low Crash Probability

Don't Like Being 

Told What to Do

In a Rush

Uncomfortable

Forgot

Short Distance

 Drivers	who	rarely	or	never	wore	a	seat	belt	tended	to	give	

different	reasons	for	nonuse	than	did	drivers	who	sometimes	or	most	of	the	time	used	seat	belts.	They	were	more	

likely	to	cite	discomfort	(34%	versus	7%)	or	“other”	reasons	(18%	versus	5%)	as	the	predominant	causes.

Attitudes About the Usefulness of Seat Belts

 The	vast	majority	of	the	public	strongly	(87%)	or	somewhat	

(8%)	agreed	with	the	statement	“If	I	were	in	an	accident,	I	

would	want	to	have	my	seat	belt	on.”

 One-third	of	the	public	strongly	(14%)	or	somewhat	(21%)	

agreed	with	the	statement	“Seat	belts	are	just	as	likely	to	

harm	you	as	help	you.”		For	some	demographic	groups,	

the	figure	was	about	50%.

 One-quarter	of	the	public	(26%)	agreed	that	“If	it	is	your	

time	 to	 die,	 you’ll	 die,	 so	 it	 doesn’t	 matter	 whether	 you	

wear	your	seat	belt.”

Seat Belt Laws and Their Enforcement

 Almost	9	in	10	persons	(88%)	favored	laws	that	required	

drivers	and	front	seat	passengers	to	wear	seat	belts.	Twothirds	of	the	public	(67%)	believed	that	police	should	be	

allowed	to	stop	a	vehicle	if	they	see	a	seat	belt	violation	

when	no	other	traffic	laws	are	being	broken	(3	percentage	

points	higher	than	in	2003).	The	proportion	of	drivers	who	

reported	wearing	seat	belts	all	the	time	when	driving	was	

higher	in	States	where	police	had	this	authority	(91%)	than	

States	where	they	did	not	(85%).

 Half	(50%)	of	drivers	considered	it	likely	that	they	would	

be	ticketed	if	they	did	not	wear	a	seat	belt	at	all	while	driving	over	the	next	6	months.	

 The	 public	 was	 more	 likely	 to	 disagree	 (41%)	 than	 agree	

(36%)	with	the	statement	that	“Police	in	my	community	generally	do	not	bother	to	write	tickets	for	seat	belt	violations.”

How to Order

For	a	copy	of	2007 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey, 

Volume 1 Methodology Report	(40	pages	plus	questionnaires)	

and Volume 2 Seat Belt Report	(188	pages	plus	appendices)	

prepared	by	Schulman,	Ronca,	and	Bucuvalas,	Inc.,	write	to	

the	Office	of	Behavioral	Safety	Research,	NHTSA,	NTI-130,	

1200	New	Jersey	Avenue	SE.,	Washington,	DC	20590,	send	a	

fax	to	202-366-7394,	or	download	from	www.nhtsa.dot.gov.	

Alan	Block	was	the	project	manager	for	this	study.	

TRAFFIC TECH	is	a	publication	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	Dr.	Angela	Eichelberger,	

Editor:	fax	202-366-7394,	or	e-mail:	traffic.tech@dot.gov.	

1200	New	Jersey	Avenue	SE.,	NTI-130

Washington,	DC	20590