Intelligent Seat Belt Reminders—Do They Change Driver Seat Belt Use in Europe?

Objective. Many modern cars have seat belt reminders (SBRs) using loud and clear sound and light signals. These systems have developed over the last few years. This study investigates how these modern systems influence the seat belt use in real-life traffic in built-up areas in some European cities. Methods. The data were collected by field observations in major cities in six European countries and in five cities around Sweden. A selection of car models having seat belt reminders (SBR) were compared to a fleet of similar car models without such reminders. Results. A significant difference in seat belt wearing rate was found in the cars with seat belt reminders. For all observations, the total seat belt wearing rate was 97.5% +/− 0.5% in cars with SBR, while it was 85.8% +/− 0.8% in cars without. There were differences in seat belt use in the different observation locations. The lowest seat belt use was found in Brussels/Belgium with a use rate of 92.6 +/− 2.2% in cars with seat belt reminders and 69.6 +/− 3.1% in cars not fitted with reminders. The highest seat belt use was found in Paris/France where 99.8 +/− 0.4% of the drivers used the seat belt in cars with reminders and 96.9 +/−1.1% were belted in cars without reminders. Conclusion. Seat belt reminders fulfilling Euro NCAP's seat belt reminder protocol are increasing the seat belt use in daily traffic significantly. Around 80% (82.2% +/− 8.6%) of the drivers not putting the belt on without a seat belt reminder do so in cars equipped with an SBR that has a light signal and an associated loud and clear sound signal.