An Interview with David Manning

David Manning, Ph.D., is the Administrator of Region 9 for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which comprises California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii and the Pacific Territories. He spoke with the Traffic Safety Center newsletter in mid-November.

 

California was recently overtaken by Washington State as the state with highest seat belt use as a percentage of occupants. What did Washington do? Are there lessons for other states?

One thing they did that is relatively new is they used paid media. Before, we urged people to do public service announcements, but they tend to run at 3 o'clock in the morning when nobody's watching. In Washington State, they broadcast a strong enforcement message two weeks before an enforcement program, and they paid for those messages to go on in prime time. Seat belt use has gone up. During the May mobilization period nationally, which used some paid media, it went up an average 6% nationally.

California did not do that in the same period of time, but it is now starting to do that.

 

Where is the room for improvement in California's belt use?

Even with California's rate, which is 91.1%, if you look at number of people killed in traffic crashes in any given year, about 47 to 50% of them are unbelted. We still had 1,000 people killed who were unbelted. That's nowhere near being acceptable numbers.

 
 

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"We call them the 'Late 8', people who haven't gotten the message. They equal roughly 3.1 million vehicle occupants—more than the population of 21 states."--David Manning

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How can you categorize this last group of non-users? Where do you focus your efforts?

We call them the "Late 8," people who haven't gotten the message. They equal roughly 3.1 million vehicle occupants—more than the population of 21 states. In California and even across the country you can categorize them. Male drivers between 18 to 34 are less likely to buckle up than others; pickup truck drivers don't usually buckle up at same rate that other populations do; traffic crashes kill people of color at from two to three times the rate of the general population, so the efforts to make any gains could easily focus on pickup truck drivers, males, people of color.

Another group are people who are part-time users. Some people don't use them on short trips, because they figure they aren't as exposed to danger. What is troubling about that is that most crashes occur within 25 miles of home. 

Then there are people who think they are safe on surface streets and only buckle up when they are riding on the freeway. They don't realize that the interstates are safer and that two-lane roads are the major killers or people.

There just is no good time to not wear your belt.

 

What are some other aspects of current programs to promote occupant protection? 

Child safety is another focus. Young children rely on us. One hundred percent of children should be restrained with a belt or safety seat or booster seat, but it's usually only 60 to 70% on national level. And about 80% of the seats children are using are installed improperly. 

So NHSTA, along with OTS (the California Office of Traffic Safety) and health departments, fire departments and volunteer groups put on car seat safety inspections, to get people to come in and see if their seats are put in properly.

Another troubling aspect is drinking and driving.

 

How does that tie into seat belt use?

How that ties into belts is that 80% of the people who are killed in drunk driving crashes are not belted.

 

You’re saying 80% of everyone killed in drunk driving crashes, not just the drunk drivers?

Yes, you could be completely sober and get hit by a drunk, and if you're not belted, you are more likely to be killed.

 

What are other ways to increase belt use and improve occupant protection?

Just to get a primary belt law, like California does, is another way to get an increase. And getting people to obey the law, getting them to know that those three seconds it takes to buckle your belt is the most effective safety investment you could ever make.

 

Are there other approaches coming up? California's OTS just announced its campaign in the state and its participation in the "Buckle Up America/Operation ABC Mobilization," Nov. 25 through Dec. 1, 2002, which is part of the California Seat Belt Compliance Campaign, designed to increase the state’s 91.1 percent seat belt use rate to 92 percent by 2003. The Campaign also includes a second mobilization period, May 19-26, 2003.

I know that NHTSA is going to be focused on getting back to basics. We're getting into the holiday season when there is a lot more exposure, because more people are on the road. Starting with the Thanksgiving holiday, there is going to be a large nationwide mobilization, with a lot of law enforcement on the roadways to make sure people out there are driving safely.

If people know that enforcement is happening, they are more likely to obey the law. Unfortunately, the fines for not wearing your belt are pretty low. In California, it's $271 for being in an HOV lane illegally, but $25 for not wearing a belt. There's not a whole lot of incentive to wear your belt.

And there can never be enough law enforcement, which is why we try to get people to realize that they're responsible for their own safety and for their children's. The California Highway Patrol is one of the major reasons for California's success in my opinion.

We need to get the local law enforcement folks to understand that when you do a lot of enforcement, you catch a lot of people doing other things, stolen cars, parole violations. I also understand that since 9/11 law enforcement has been torn in so many other directions, and traffic is not a priority. You get a lot of police burnout.

 

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"The number one killer of African-   American children younger than 14 is crashes, and between 16 and 24 years of age, it is traffic crashes. For Hispanics, it's the number one killer for youth under 24." --David Manning

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What kind of strategies are there to reach the populations of color who are over-represented in the fatality and injury numbers?

The California Highway Patrol and OTS just held a series of five symposiums and went into African-American communities around the state where they brought leaders together to try to explain to them the seriousness of this issue, to get them to spread the word through the churches, different organizations. We need to get these folks buckled up. There are a lot of strategies, special messages for people of color. We can get it in the right media, in the things we read, on the radio and tv we listen to, get the churches involved, get leaders involved. The number one killer of African-American children younger than 14 is crashes, and between 16 and 24 years of age, it is traffic crashes. For Hispanics, it's the number one killer for youth under 24. In the Hispanic community, we are trying to get the priests involved.

Driving is probably the most dangerous thing you and I do on a daily basis. Three out of 10 of us are going to be affected by a drunk driver. If you put 100 people in a room and asked them if they had been affected by a traffic crash, most of the hands would go up. I don't know of any other disease or tragedy where you are killing 114 people a day and that wouldn't cause an uproar.

 

What does the future hold for federal safety funds?

TEA-21 expires in September 2003. Efforts are already underway to reauthorize another transportation bill. We're hopeful that the amount of dollars will at least be repeated.

We know we have succeeded once we get someone to be in the habit of buckling his or her belt, and it becomes second nature. You'll know they're really hooked when they buckle up as I do when they move their car from one stall in the parking garage to another. Once you get the habit, you're not going to go back.

 

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