摘要:

Public health priorities arise from the convergence of a disease threat, public awareness of the threat, demand for proper protection from the threat, and a body of scientific literature to support the effectiveness of prevention/ protection measures. With the success in combating infectious and some chronic diseases, public health is beginning to turn next to the challenge of a “new” pandemic, injury, especially to the prevention of motor vehicle trauma. Programs that promote the use of safety belts, child restraints, and automatic protection in the context of public health priorities offer the greatest hope for reducing the magnitude of the motor vehicle trauma problem.

ISSN:0022-5282    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1987

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

In 1976 belt usage was made compulsory for front seat passengers in the Federal Republic of Germany. Since 1984, noncompliance incurs a fine of DM 40. In 1984 belt usage was also made compulsory for back seat passengers (noncompliance not being fined). Following the introduction of the fines, the usage rates both for drivers and front seat passengers increased from about 60% to more than 90%. The number of car occupant fatalities has lowered considerably since the introduction of the fine (by about 25%). Approximately 15 to 20 percentage points of this change are probably due to this measure. Major injuries decreased noticeably as well, in particular injuries to the eyes. Belt usage on back seats is still unsatisfactory (20%), although here too, the effect on injuries of the belt is incontestable, taking into consideration occupant interaction.

ISSN:0022-5282    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1987

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

New York became the first state in the U.S.A. to enact a seat belt use law for drivers and front seat passengers. Twenty-six other states and the District of Columbia have passed similar legislation since July 1984.Seat belt usage has increased from two- to fourfold under a mandatory regime. Preliminary data document benefits in reduced serious and fatal casualties and in insurance claims.Greater emphasis must be given to higher levels of enforcement if usage is to reach 75–80%.With substantially increased belt use, the effectiveness of belts, as well as their limitations, and of laws mandating their use, can be evaluated adequately. Also, other consequences of belts can be monitored more closely to determine their relative importance.

ISSN:0022-5282    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1987

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0022-5282    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1987

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Voters of Michigan have elected Secretary Austin, prominent safety belt law advocate, to four successive four year terms, by substantial margins. He is now the longest serving black statewide official in the USA. Michigan's Secretary of State, in addition to being the State's official record keeper and elections supervisor, is responsible for motor vehicle administration and driver licensing. He serves as chairman of the state's traffic safety commission. In his first campaign for election in 1970, Austin included in his traffic safety program a proposal for safety belt legislation, as the best way to encourage usage. His opponent was opposed. In each of three campaigns for re-election and at every opportunity, Austin urged usage and advocated mandatory safety belt legislation. Michigan enacted a safety belt law in 1985, culminating a 14-year struggle for Austin. In this article he shares some of his experience and views.Secretary of State for the State of Michigan, U.S.A. Affiliations: Member, American Institute of C.P.A's, Member, Michigan Association of C.P.A's, Member, National Association of Black Accountants, Member, National Association of Secretaries of State, Trustee, Harper-Grace Hospitals of Detroit, Trustee, Social Security Research Institute, International Union, U.A.W., Board Member, Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Chairman, Michigan State Safety Commission, Member, American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, Member, Michigan Coalition for Safety Belt Use, Member, Democratic Party.

ISSN:0022-5282    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1987

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Mandatory child restraint laws in 11 states were evaluated for their effect on motor vehicle fatality rates among young children. Data from 1976 through 1983 were analyzed using a monthly time-series design involving 54 months' pre-law and 12 months' post-law data. The 11 states collectively had a mean of 8.8 and a standard deviation of 3.6 fatalities per month among young children. Such small frequency counts resulted in a large proportion of the variation being random. Statistical power analyses found fatality reductions of 20% to 25% following the child restraint laws would be statistically significant. Reductions of such a magnitude were not found for young children. Based on these findings, we recommend that evaluations of highway safety policies focusing on a specific age group within a single state not be limited to analyses of traffic fatalities alone. Studies employing analyses of the larger numbers of crash-induced injuries have identified modest but important casualty reductions not found when analyzing fatalities alone.

ISSN:0022-5282    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1987

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This paper examines the effectiveness of seat belts in reducing injury among passenger car drivers and right front passengers. The analysis is based on more than 1.5 million occupants involved in North Carolina crashes during the years 1973–1981. Initial results show that seat belts reduce the risk of serious injury to the driver by 58% and fatal injury by 73%. For right front passengers, the comparable figures are 53% and 66%. When a measure of vehicle deformity reflecting the severity of the crash is introduced as a control variable, these effectiveness values decline somewhat. Depending on the specific approach taken, seat belts are shown to reduce the risk of serious injury to passenger car drivers by 51–52%, and the risk of fatal injury by 63–67%. For right front passengers, the effectiveness ranges are 43–44% for serious injury and 53–55% for fatal injury. While these adjusted estimates of belt effectiveness are lower than those based on the raw data, they nevertheless represent considerable benefit to car occupants using seat belts.

ISSN:0022-5282    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1987

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Safety belt use has dramatically increased in the past decade in North America because of safety belt use laws. Underarm use of shoulder belts is a means of relieving neck irritation and other complaints from shoulder belts but may result in serious or fatal injuries. Loads far in excess of the injury tolerance of the lower chest and upper abdomen are imposed by the shoulder belt in the underarm position. Six recent cases are presented in which fatal injury was caused by underarm use of shoulder belts. Lacerations of the liver, spleen, intestines, mesentery, diaphragm, and aorta, and spine injury have occurred in accidents, most of which should have been survivable. The motoring public must be warned that underarm use of shoulder belts is hazardous and may cause fatal injuries in otherwise survivable accidents.

ISSN:0022-5282    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1987

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This paper presents an overview of recent estimations of safety belt effectiveness obtained using a new technique—the double-pair comparison method. By effectiveness is meant the reduction, expressed as per cent, in fatalities to a presently unbelted population that would result if all of its members were to use belts, but not otherwise change their driving behavior. The double-pair comparison method is presented more simply, with less mathematical detail and rigor, than in earlier descriptions of it. The method is applied to determine the effectiveness of three-point lap/shoulder belts in preventing fatalities to drivers and right front passengers in passenger cars of model year 1974 or later, averaged over the distribution of crashes which occur in U.S. traffic. The method is then applied to investigate the dependence of effectiveness on a variety of vehicular, accident, roadway, and environmental factors. It is reported that if all presently unbelted drivers and right front passengers were to use the provided lap/shoulder belts, but not otherwise change their behavior, fatalities to this group would decline by (43 ± 3)%. Safety belt effectiveness for drivers is higher in single-car crashes than in multiple-vehicle crashes, but does not depend much on a variety of other vehicle factors (for example, car size), accident factors (travel speed), roadway factors (posted speed limit), and environmental factors (light versus dark).

ISSN:0022-5282    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1987

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Although it may be well known that the lap-shoulder belts are effective in reducing occupant injury in motor vehicle crashes, hardly ever have actual examples been presented in the medical literature. This paper presents case histories of selected severe crashes in which one or more of the occupants were lap-shoulder belted. Environmental and vehicular details, as well as injury descriptions, are presented along with comments.

ISSN:0022-5282    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1987

数据来源: OVID