PROGRAMS

Nighttime Seat Belt Enforcement (NTSBE)

Background

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) has received special federal funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to organize and evaluate seat belt enforcement patrols that take place during the nighttime hours. The Nighttime Seat Belt Enforcement (NTSBE) patrols will be funded with Click it or Ticket overtime grants and publicized with earned media and advertising. The large-scale, night time seat belt enforcement patrols are scheduled to take place:

• May 21 through June 3, 2007
• October 2007
• May 2008

Between these large-scale enforcement campaigns, WTSC will fund smaller, nighttime seat belt enforcement projects supported by earned media publicity. A total of $1 million has been set aside for law enforcement overtime funding for this project.

Activity Schedule

• .January, 2007 – Nighttime seat belt law enforcement trainings held statewide.
• January 2, 2007 – WTSC grant paperwork posted on WTSC web page and mailed to law enforcement.
• April 13 – Operational plans and grant paperwork due to WTSC
• April 28 – WTSC notifies law enforcement about grant funding dispersal.
• May 13 – Publicity for May campaign begins.
• May 21 through June 3 – First law enforcement patrols take place.

Purpose

Improve nighttime seat belt use and reduce traffic deaths and injuries. Research shows that aggressive enforcement of the seat belt law, combined with publicity, create the greatest driver behavior change; in short, this formula gets people to buckle up. The threat of getting a ticket is a powerful motivator, far more believable than the threat of being in a collision.

Issue

In Washington State, about the same number of traffic deaths occur during the daytime hours as at night, however traffic volumes at night are only 12 to 15% of what they are during the day, so the fatal rate at night is much larger than the daytime fatal rate. Research shows that seat belt use is about 6 to 8 percentage points lower at night than during the day, so the goal of the Nighttime Seat Belt Enforcement Project is to increase nighttime seat belt use and reduce collision injuries and death.

An analysis of Washington State fatal collisions from 1993 through 2003 reveals that people ages 15 to 45 have the highest incidence of daytime non-seat belt use (49.5% non-use) in fatal collisions. The night time non-use of seat belts for this age group is 63.6%. Additionally, the age group of 21 to 44 years of age has the highest number of impaired driving fatal collisions.

During a recent nighttime seat belt survey contracted by WTSC, preliminary results showed an 86% nighttime seat belt use rate. This is 10% points below the state seat belt use rate (96.3%), which is the highest seat belt rate in the USA and the world.

WTSC Assertions

• High risk drivers fail to “buckle up” at night;
• Drivers most at risk of serious crashes also tend to be those who use seat belts less often;
• There is greater social deviance by those who do not wear seat belts; and
• There is greater prevalence of criminal behavior by those who do not wear seat belts.

NTSBE Activity Materials

• Watch Training DVD
• Operational Plan
• Checklist
• Checklist Forms
• Grant MOU
• Activity Log
• Invoice Voucher A19-1a
• Captain Almeida Training
• Law Enforcement Training
• NTSBE Data Slides
• Transportation Research Board presentation

Watch traffic safety educational videos and ads on YouTube. Visit www.youtube.com - search with "wtsc"

Contact Information

Jonna VanDyk,
WTSC Occupant Protection Program Manager
jvandyk@wtsc.wa.gov
Office: (360) 586-3870

Captain Raul Almeida,
Hanford Patrol - CJTC Certified Instructor.
Raul_rudy_almeida@rl.gov
AC-training@sprintblackberry.net
(509) 531-9439 (cell)

Tanya Wambold,
WTSC Program Assistant
twambold@wtsc.wa.gov
Office: (360) 586-7108