Comparative Study of Various Data Collection Software Used for Seat-Belt Observational Surveys

According to the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), the seat-belt use in United States has increased from 84% in 2009 to 85% 2010. Moreover from 2005-2009, use of seat-belts have saved the lives of 72000 occupants. Even then, the number of occupants who died in crashes where safety restraints were not used is 75625. This gives a reason to study about the seat-belt use throughout U.S. and to be able to increase it over the years. To calculate the seat-belt usage throughout U.S., statewide seat-belt surveys are conducted in individual states collecting various parameters such as gender, age, ethnicity, vehicle type and state of registration of the front seat occupants. Data collection is performed by trained observers who use the method of direct observation and records the data through paper and pen or recently on Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). The efficiency and accuracy is the backbone of such surveys and hence it is necessary that the method being used for that should be faster as well as accurate for data collection. This paper documents the results of a comparative study conducted in Transportation Research Center (TRC), University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) among five different data collection templates. Results were analyzed on the basis of speed and accuracy, i.e. the data being collected has a similar kind of a pattern which is obtained from the other designs which is a very important factor for the selection of any design.