NON-USERS' MOTIVES FOR NOT WEARING THE SEAT BELT

This scientific poster presents a study aimed at getting an estimate of how deeply rooted the aversion against the seat belt was among Swedish drivers not using the seat belt. Some 5000 cars were observed and about 500 drivers were interviewed at the roadside about why they did not use their seat belt. The results indicate that among the majority of these non-users the basic attitudes towards seat belts are very favourable. The conclusion is that the number of real, firm opponents to seat belts is probably quite small, namely about 2.5% of the interviewed sample or about 0.2% of all drivers that were observed during the study. Some other useful results concern various practical aspects of seat belt use, which easily could be addressed in information activities. Many responses also indicate a need for a closer look at the "short trip" concept. Several drivers blamed their non-use on "just a short trip" although they had driven substantial distances before the interview, which might depend more on the type of trip than on the actual distance traveled. If this explanation is correct, then it might also be possible to reduce the number of "subjective short trips" through educational measures. For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD E203511.