Driver Use of, and Reaction to, Automatic Seat Belts in Ford and GM Cars

Drivers of I987 Ford and GM cars equipped with automatic seat belts were surveyed regarding their use of, and reaction to, the automatic belts. The Ford automatic belt is a motorized two-point shoulder belt combined with a manual lap belt and a knee bolster. The GM automatic belt is a three-point combination lap and shoulder belt that can be detached and used like a manual belt. The survey was conducted in North Carolina and Maryland, which have seat belt use laws, and Wisconsin, which does not. Almost all (99 percent) of the Ford drivers reported they always used their automatic shoulder belt; less than half reported using their manual lap belt all the time. Almost half of the GM drivers said they did not know their car had an automatic belt; over half who did know said they never used it as an automatic belt. However, a majority of GM drivers reported using the belts, especially in states with belt use laws; in each state, more GM drivers said they used the automatic belts than Ford drivers said they used the manual lap belts. More than three-quarters of GM drivers said they used their lap/shoulder belts all the time in the belt law states (North Carolina, 87 percent; Maryland, 76 percent) compared with 37 percent in Wisconsin, which does not have a belt use law. Comparing Ford drivers with GM drivers who knew they had an automatic belt, Ford drivers liked their automatic belts better, found them easier to use, and were more likely than GM drivers to want their next car to have automatic belts of the same type.