Publication Details

Compulsory wearing of seat belts -- The Australian experience

Type: Paper

Author(s): McLean, A. J.

Pages: 53

Publisher: Highway Safety Research Center

Url: http://www.hsrc.unc.edu/research_library/bibliography_pre1990.cfm

Publication Date: Mar-1973

Address: Chapel Hill, NC

Abstract: This document consists of a number of reports relating to the effects of legislation requiring the wearing of seat belts by Australian motorists. These reports are arranged in chronological order. In general, based on analyses of the data from the states of Victoria and New South Wales, it appears that this legislation has resulted in a reduction in fatalities to the occupants of motor vehicles of about 20%. The Victorian data show a much larger reduction in metropolitan areas (25%) than in rural areas (6%). This is associated with a lower wearing rate, and with a greater severity of accidents, in rural areas.