Promoting seat belt use among black...( ly injured in crashes between January 1...),Health

ly injured in crashes between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2003. In the 33 U.S. states with accurate reporting of decedent race, 7 states had primary seat belt laws, 22 states had secondary laws and an additional 4 states transitioned from secondary to primary laws during the study period.

Compared with secondary-law states, seat belt use in primary-law states was 18 percent higher among blacks and 15 percent higher among whites. In secondary-law states blacks are only 89 percent as likely as whites to use seatbelts, whereas in primary-law states blacks are 105 percent as likely as whites to buckle up. The low prevalence of seatbelt use in secondary law states is largely limited to urban areas, where blacks are only 75 percent as likely as whites to wear seatbelts. The black-white seatbelt use disparity in secondary law states also seems to be limited to motorists ages 16-29 and 50+. Regardless of state seat belt law, black-white seat belt use disparities were most marked at the extremes of driving age.

While it is unclear what accounts for the increased seatbelt use among black motorists in primary law states, Briggs et al. suggest that the findings may reflect concerns of blacks about the possibility of racial profiling, or differential enforcement, whereby law enforcement officers could selectively stop and cite minority motorists for seatbelt law violations.

The authors note that "The issue of differential enforcement has received little attention in the peer-reviewed literature, and should be addressed using methodologically robust epidemiologic studies. In the interim, however, the passage of primary seat belt laws, in conjunction with provisions or companion legislation to monitor and prevent racial profiling, appears to be justified given the possibility that we can achieve racial parity in motor vehicle crash mortality rates."

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20-Jun-2006

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