Evaluation of Primary Safety Belt Laws in California, Louisiana, and Georgia.

This study evaluated three states that changed to primary enforcement of safety belt laws, collecting statewide seat belt observation data for several years and conducting monthly seat belt observations for 6 months after passage of the primary law in 6 California cities, 5 Louisiana cities, and 5 Georgia cities (average 1,000–6,000 vehicles a month); monthly motorist surveys at DMVs for 6 months in these sites (n=7,061); focus groups with law enforcement officers and supervisors in each site; and citations issued locally and statewide for several years. Observed belt use increased substantially in California (+18 percentage points) and in Louisiana (+16 percentage points). Smaller increases were seen in Georgia initially, but grew the following year. In each state, most motorists understood that they could be stopped by a police officer for a belt use violation alone. In Louisiana and Georgia, there was no evidence that one racial group was targeted for enforcement as compared to any other racial group.