Background and Literature Review
Road traffic injuries pose a significant threat to the health of the population in the United States and abroad. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2023), approximately 1.35 million people die from road traffic injuries, which implies that around 3,700 people are killed daily in events associated with cars, buses, or motorbikes. There may be several causes of severe injuries in traffic accidents, including inappropriate speed, driving under the influence, distracted driving, poorly maintained vehicles, and weather conditions (Evans, 1986). Moreover, failure to wear a seatbelt is also frequently cited as a significant contributor to mortality from road traffic injuries (Abbas et al., 2011; Evans, 1986; Ogundele et al., 2013). It is critical to address these causes to reduce mortality rates in car accidents.
Two central approaches to reducing mortality in traffic accidents include crashworthiness and crash prevention (Evans, 1986). Crashworthiness refers to the implementation of engineering features that help reduce harm during accidents, such as seatbelts and airbags, or mitigate the risk of fires after the accident (Evans, 1986). Crash prevention refers to reducing the likelihood of accidents, which may include training or selecting drivers, and improving vehicle design to enhance the drivers’ ability to see clearly (Evans, 1986). Among the crashworthiness measures, enforcement of seatbelt utilization has proven to be one of the most effective measures for reducing mortality among drivers and passengers during car accidents (Abbas et al., 2011; Ogundele et al., 2013). Therefore, enforcing seatbelts is crucial for addressing the problem of high mortality rates from road traffic injuries.
Research findings support the idea that wearing a seatbelt improves the probability of survival from car accidents. A study by Ogundele et al. (2013) examined the patterns of outcomes of 140 randomly selected patients who received injuries in car accidents in Nigeria. The results demonstrated that 57% of patients wore seatbelts during the accidents, while 43% did not (Ogundele et al., 2013). A total of nineteen out of 140 patients died from the injuries they received, among which fifteen patients (79% of deaths) were not wearing a seatbelt (Ogundele et al., 2013). This finding demonstrated that wearing a seatbelt decreases mortality rates during car accidents.
Another study by Abbas et al. (2011) assessed the effectiveness of seatbelt enforcement on traffic injury severity among drivers and passengers. The study collected a large sample of data on car accidents from 46 high-income countries, examining the effect of wearing a seatbelt during the accident (Abbas et al., 2011). The results demonstrated that wearing a seatbelt negatively affected death rates and the severity of trauma from accidents (Abbas et al., 2011). The study demonstrated that enforcement of wearing a seatbelt is central to reducing the death toll from traffic injuries.
Problem Statement
The literature review revealed a lack of recent research confirming that wearing a seatbelt is crucial for reducing traffic-related injuries. Car design has improved significantly in recent years, positively affecting the drivers’ and passengers’ safety. In particular, the introduction of anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic stability control, forward collision warning, and improved vehicle structural designs has reduced mortality rates in car accidents (Dimitrijevic et al., 2019). Therefore, wearing seatbelts may no longer be necessary to reduce traffic injury mortality. Recent research is needed to address the issue of the lack of recent evidence regarding the importance of seatbelt enforcement.
Purpose Statement and Research Questions
The proposed research aims to investigate the impact of seatbelt use on the severity of traffic injuries. Specifically, this study examines the impact of seatbelt use on mortality rates in car accidents. The research will answer two research questions:
RQ1: What is the current pattern of wearing a seatbelt among drivers and passengers in the US?
RQ2: How does wearing a seatbelt affect the severity of traffic injuries in the US?
Methods
The proposed research will utilize quantitative methods to answer the research questions. Quantitative research employs rigorous methods to collect valid, quantifiable data from a large sample and analyze it using statistical methods to address specific research questions (Creswell, 2013). According to Evans (1986), all decisions concerning the enforcement of policies should be data-driven to ensure effectiveness. Thus, the utilization of quantitative methods is the most appropriate. The study will also use a cross-sectional design, as it is a more cost- and time-efficient approach to research.
The data will be collected from two sources. First, a questionnaire will be distributed among US drivers, asking about their demographic data and seatbelt-wearing habits. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the patterns of seatbelt use among drivers.
Second, data will be collected from hospitals regarding patients who have received injuries in car accidents. Random quota sampling will be used to select an equal cases of people wearing or not wearing a seatbelt during the crash. After that, the mean number of mortalities will be compared in two groups using ANOVA, which is an appropriate method, according to Creswell (2014).
Summary
Traffic injuries are a significant problem in today’s society. Enforcing seatbelts has been one of the primary strategies for reducing the severity of traffic injuries. However, it is unclear whether this policy remains effective due to the advancement of automotive technology. Thus, this research aims to identify the prevailing trends in seatbelt use among drivers and passengers in the United States and to contribute evidence on how seatbelt use influences the severity of traffic-related injuries. This knowledge will help determine if it is still necessary to enforce seatbelt use.
References
Abbas, A. K., Hefny, A. F., & Abu-Zidan, F. M. (2011). Seatbelts and road traffic collision injuries. World journal of emergency surgery, 6(1), 1-6.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Road Traffic Injuries and Deaths—A Global Problem. CDC. Web.
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Sage Publications.
Dimitrijevic, N., Stefanovic, S., Mladenovic, S., & Krstic, V. (2019). Use of Intelligent Systems on the Dynamic Stability of Cars. KNOWLEDGE-International Journal, 35(3), 973-978.
Evans, L. (1986). The effectiveness of safety belts in preventing fatalities. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 18(3), 229-241.
Ogundele, O. J., Ifesanya, A. O., Adeyanju, S. A., & Ogunlade, S. O. (2013). The impact of seat-belts in limiting the severity of injuries in patients presenting to a university hospital in the developing world. Nigerian medical journal: journal of the Nigeria Medical Association, 54(1), 17.