seat belt – NRSO

ETSC new film on Seat Belt Reminder Systems Importance 2016

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has released a new film that is calling the European Commission to require the fitting of Seat Belt Reminder Systems in all passenger seats in new cars when it reviews vehicle safety regulations later this year. The short video highlights thecritical importance of seat belt wearing to prevent serious injury and death and cites research showing that up to a quarter of rear seat passengers are still failing to belt up. Seat Belt Reminder systems are already required on drivers’ seats thanks to the last update to vehicle safety regulations in 2009. The film features experts in vehicle safety, post-collision rehabilitation and police enforcement.

Investigation of factors affecting helmet use among European motorcyclists 2013

A Diploma Thesis titled ‘Investigation of factors affecting helmet use among European motorcyclists‘ was presented by Christos Katrakazas in March 2013. Αn analysis took place, based on data from the SARTRE 4 Pan-European survey, which was conducted on a representative sample of European motorcycle drivers. Binary Logistic regression models were developed to investigate factors affecting helmet use on four types of roads (motorways, main roads between towns, country roads and built-up areas). These models were used on the samples from Greece, Europe as a whole, three groups of countries (Northwest, South and East) and three representative countries. According to the results from the models application, the main characteristic of the motorcyclists who are more likely to wear helmet, is that they fasten it frequently. On the contrary, the main factor that decreases the probability of a motorcyclist to wear helmet is helmet usage only because it is mandatory by law.

Seat belt and helmet use, European Union 2010

Several EU countries have a front seat belt use rate of around or more 90%. Few countries have lower rates (GR, HU, IT, PL). Rear seat belt use rate is much lower than in the front seat for most countries. High helmet wearing rates are found in most EU countries with the exception of CY, GR.

Parameters affecting seat belt use in Greece 2011

A research titled ‘Parameters affecting seat belt use in Greece’ co-authored by G.Yannis, A.Laiou, S.Vardaki, A.Dragomanovits, E.Papadimitriou and G.Kanellaidis from NTUA, was published in the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion in March 2011. A national field survey was conducted for the analytical recording of seat belt use. A binary logistic regression model was developed, and the impact of each parameter on seat belt use in Greece was quantified. Parameters included in the model concern characteristics of car occupants (gender, age and position in the car), the type of the car and the type of the road network. The variable with the highest impact on not wearing the seat belt is being a passenger on the back seats.

The three main killers on the roads 2010

In May 2010, ETSC published a PIN Flash concerning speed, alcohol and the use of seat belts, which are the three main risk factors on the road. Data from the countries that monitor mean driving speeds in free-flowing traffic show that drivers have slowed down appreciably since 2001. Deaths attributed to drink driving have decreased somewhat faster than other road deaths since 2001 in the EU – by about 5.8%. Although obligatory in all Member States, seat belt use in light vehicles in the EU is estimated to be only 88% for front seats and as low as 72% for rear seats.

4th Pan-Hellenic Road Safety Conference 2009

The 4th Pan-Hellenic Road Safety Conference was organised by the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers and the National Technical University of Athens.

NTUA presented:

Characteristics of lorry and bus accidents in Greece

Application of the SUNflower methodology for the assessment of two-wheeler safety in Greece

Correlations of road accident and meteorological conditions time-series

Seat belt and helmet use in Greece

Seat belt use rate, Greece 2009

According to an observational study carried out by NTUA under the coordination of Prof. George Kanellaidis, around 1 out of 4 drivers do not use seat belts. Females have higher seat belt use rates. Only 19% of rear seat passengers use seat belt inside urban area and 28% outside urban area. Child restrain use is 57% with no significant difference inside / outside urban area.

WHO Seat-belts and child restraints Safety Manual 2009

The fourth in this series of good practice manuals, titled ‘Seat-belts and child restraints: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners‘, jointly prepared by GRSP, WHO, the FIA Foundation and the World Bank, focuses on seat-belts and child restraints. The manual is a practical guide to implementing, enforcing and evaluating seat-belt and child restraint programmes, and consists of a series of ‘how to’ modules.

Wider seat belt use could save up to 1 in 5 drivers’ lives 2007

In February 2007, ETSC published the PIN Flash. Seat belt wearing in the front seats of cars varies among European countries from less than 70% to more than 95%. The ranking showed that France, Germany and Malta reach rates of over 95% seat belt use among front seat occupants. Also Sweden, Norway, the U.K. and the Netherlands showed good levels of 90% and higher. In Hungary, Italy and Belgium, on the other hand, rates were only around 70%, while no rates at all were available from Greece, Lithuania and Slovakia leaving room to assume even lower usage.

Seat belt reminders increasingly standard in Europe – but not in all countries 2006

In June 2011, ETSC published a PIN Flash concernig seat belt use. In Sweden, nearly 70% of new passenger cars were equipped with seat belt reminders for the driver seat. In Luxembourg, this percentage is estimated to be 64% and in Germany 63%. In the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Italy and Greece, this is however less than half of the new passenger cars.