NCJ Number
123393
Date Published
1989
Length
2 pages
Annotation
Focusing on a high risk driving group, seat belt use patterns of 16 to 24 year olds suggest that persons at greatest risk of involvement in traffic accidents are the least likely to use seat belts.
Abstract
The 1986 Youth Alcohol Survey containing 3,000 young adult New York State residents between 16 to 24 years of age was analyzed. Alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana users are more likely not to use seat belts. In the subgroup that never wears seat belts, alcohol users are over-represented by 27.5 percent, cigarette users by 15.6 percent, and marijuana users by 10.4 percent. Further analysis found that the degree of drug use affects the likelihood of not using seat belts. Young drinkers who report having driven under the influence of alcohol are more likely not to use seat belts. The same results were drawn from the analysis on marijuana users; young adults who have ridden in an automobile operated by somebody under the influence of alcohol or marijuana are more likely not to use seat belts.