U.S. Study Assails Safety Belt Misuse

Although the increasingly widespread use of automobile lap-shoulder belts is saving hundreds of lives, the belts often are misused in ways that reduce their effectiveness, a federal study concluded Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the most common abuse of the safety belts is that they are worn too loosely or--often in the case of children--are tucked under the arm or back because of concern about the high angle of the harness.

“The lap-shoulder belts are very effective and achieve about all that can be expected of them if they are properly used,” safety board Chairman Jim Burnett said. “But we have a lot of misuse and that problem has to be tackled.”

Previous Studies Used

The agency report is based on previous studies of seat belt use made by other government agencies and the insurance industry, as well as a detailed examination of 167 accidents in which at least one occupant wore a belt.

Lynne Smith, one of the safety board staff investigators involved in the study, said that the findings were not meant to be a random statistical sample but that the data is “consistent with the finding of widespread (belt) misuse.”