SEAT BELTS PAY OFF. A COMMUNITY WIDE RESEARCH/PUBLIC SERVICE PROJECT DESIGNED TO INCREASE USE OF LAP AND SHOULDER BELTS. AN INTERIM REPORT

A campaign/research project is underway in the community of Chapel Hill/Carrboro N.C. in which the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC), with the cooperation of many other community groups, is attempting to increase use of restraint systems on a community wide basis. This project involves a public information campaign combined with an incentive procedure by which citizens can receive immediate reward for wearing a seat belt while riding in a car. Said immediate reward is in the form of a small prize worth 3-5 dollars and a chance to win a monthly prize of $500 or a grand prize of $1,000. The incentive approach has demonstrated good success in closed settings like schools or factories. The utility of this approach is not known, however, for larger population settings like a whole community. Likewise, experience with this approach is too recent for good documentation of any long-term results after an intensive short-term campaign. Baseline belt use data were collected during March of 1983 and the incentive process began an April 19, 1983. The campaign will last six months. Thereafter, it is hoped that a sustaining public information program will continue, and belt use trends will be monitored months (perhaps years) thereafter.