Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death for those aged 3 to 33, with 43,005 (118 per day) Americans killed in 2002 alone. Seat belt use reduces the risk of serious injury in an accident, and refraining from using a cell phone while driving reduces the risk of an accident. Cell phone use while driving increases accident rates, and leads to 2,600 U.S. fatalities each year. An active pro...

This study determined effect of automobile seat backrest inclination on lattisimus dorsi muscle electromyographic (EMG) activity. Myoelectric activity was determined at two seat backrest angles (90 degrees and 100 degrees inclinations).  Twenty-one (21) participants were engaged in the study. Electromygraphic activity at 90 degrees inclination had slope value of -0.065 mV/minute while ...

Since nearly half of children fatally injured in automobile crashes were restrained, optimizing occupant protection systems for children is essential to reducing morbidity and mortality. Data from the Partners for Child Passenger Safety study were used to compare the differential injury risk between drivers and their child passengers in the same crash, with a focus on vehicle model year. A matc...

Senior drivers are vulnerable to automobile crashes and subsequent injury and death. Safety belts reduce health risks associated with auto crashes. Therefore, it is important to encourage senior drivers to wear safety belts while driving. Using a repeated baseline design (AAB), we previously reported that motivating signs boosted safety belt usage by drivers exiting senior communities from base...

Seat belt use is an important factor in the prevention of automobile accidents involving injuries and fatalities. The current study used a multielement design to compare the "Click It or Ticket" and "Please Buckle Up--I Care" procedures. Results indicate that the Click It or Ticket prompt resulted in a 20-percentage-point increase in seat belt use, and Please Buckle Up-I Care resulted in a 14-p...

We examined the utility of estimating rates of automobile seat belt use with self-report measures. Self-report measures overestimate belt use rates compared to observational surveys of the same population. Laws mandating seat belt use did not substantially affect the degree to which self-reports are upwardly biased. We found self-report measures overestimate observed belt use by 8.9 to 19.4 per...