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Rural Pickup Truck Drivers and Safety Belt Use: Focus Group Report
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2004-05-01
[PDF-817.14 KB]
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Abstract:In 1997, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) established the Buckle Up America Campaign, a national initiative to save lives and prevent injuries through the proper use of safety belts and child safety seats. One of the main goals of this campaign is to increase national safety belt use, with a current goal of 79 percent by 2004. Although safety belt use for pickup truck occupants increased from 59 percent to 69 percent from 1998 to 2003, safety belt use rates have remained well below that of occupants of other vehicle types. In comparison, from 1998 to 2003, safety belt use in passenger cars rose from 71 percent to 81 percent. Lower belt use rates for pickup truck occupants exist throughout all regions of the United States. In 2000, NHTSA determined that more information was needed to address the specific issues associated with low safety belt use among rural pickup truck occupants. This report was created as an initial step to assist NHTSA with future demonstration projects that are designed to test strategies to raise safety belt use rates among pickup truck occupants. This report presents background information about safety belt use among rural pickup truck drivers. Specifically, an inventory of pickup truck safety belt and children in cargo area laws, as of November 2000, is presented; safety belt usage rates, fatality rates, and characteristics of pickup truck drivers and passengers, as of November 2000, are summarized; and public information campaigns intended for pickup truck drivers, as of 2000, are reviewed. Also, qualitative data about pickup truck drivers’ knowledge and attitudes about safety belt use and public information materials are summarized. To gather this information, eight focus groups were conducted with male pickup truck drivers from rural areas in Georgia, Michigan, Montana and Texas. Among the key findings are: male pickup truck drivers reported that they are generally safety conscious about work and household issues, but not about safety belt use; most believed that safety belts are important, but found them uncomfortable, restrictive and a “hassle;” some reported wearing safety belts when traveling in passenger cars but not in their pickup trucks; and they were more likely to use safety belts when family members pressured them to wear their safety belts. Regarding communication materials (TV, radio scripts, posters, brochures), most of the men preferred communication messages that are as realistic as possible. They did not appreciate the use of humor in messages, and mistrusted celebrity spokespersons and the use of statistics in messages. Based on these results, suggestions for campaign message development, intended for the male, rural pickup driver population are presented.
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