Evaluation of a brief intervention for increasing seat belt use on a college campus

The authors evaluated a brief intervention for increasing seat belt use amo ng the front seat occupants of cars at a junior college, in a jurisdiction with a mandatory belt use law. The intervention included public posting of performance feedback and distribution of an informational flyer to cars in a target parking lot. Feedback was the display of the proportion of drivers observed wearing seat belts on the previous observation day. Seat belt use among drivers increased from 64% during the baseline phase to 71% during t he intervention phase. Seat belt use among front pas sengers increased from 49% during the baseline phase to 67% during the intervention phase. In bot h cases, seat belt use at follow-up was comparable to seat belt use during the intervention phase, although a trend toward decreasing belt use was not ed. Also found was higher seat belt use among females as compared with male s irrespective of their front seat occupant status (driver or passenger). E ffects of the intervention are discussed in the context of increasing seat belt use in a hardcore nonuser population of predominantly young adults.