Background Between 1991 and 2001, observed on-the-road safety belt use by front seat occupants increased from 54 to 73 percent, or to express it another way, unrestrained travel decreased from 46 to 27 percent. However, during these years, the number of occupants who were ejected in crashes and fatally injured increased from 9,052 to 9,468.

ObjectiveExplain the discrepancy between increased belt use and the trend in ejection, considering factors such as: 1) the shift from passenger cars to LTVs, 2) discrepancy between observed belt use on-the-road and by crash-involved drivers, 3) demographic shifts.

Proposed Approach Safety belt use data from NOPUS and fatality data from FARS will be analyzed to address questions such as: (1) Does the increase in the number of LTVs on the road play a role in the increase of ejected occupant injuries and fatalities? (2) What is the relationship between the observed belt use increase on the road and people who are involved in rollovers? (3) What are the correlations between ejection rates and other contributing factors (high speed driving, driver age/gender, etc.)? This evaluation can probably be completed within a year, since it is based on analyses of existing data.