Executive summary

The primary objective of this study was to conduct a comprehensive statewide seat belt usage survey in order to determine the usage rate for the State of Colorado in 2008. The statewide survey was conducted in the same month (June) as preceding surveys with essentially the same observer staff as used in previous studies in order to leverage the training and experience and to maintain statistical confidence in the data-gathering task. The survey was conducted by the Institute of Transportation Management, College of Business, Colorado State University under the sponsorship of the Colorado Department of Transportation, Office of Transportation Safety. Observational data were analyzed by the Institute of Transportation Management with the assistance of the Statistics Laboratory of the College of Natural Sciences. During the statewide study, seat belt usage was observed during two consecutive weeks in June 2008 (June 1 - June 14) to determine actual usage among Colorado drivers and outboard front seat passengers. With the data and analyses emanating from this study, the CDOT Office of Transportation Safety will have current and accurate information upon which to base future transportation safety program decisions. The Institute of Management (ITM) at State University conducted a comprehensive seat belt usage study in the State of Colorado during the first two weeks of June 2008. Trained staff personally observed vehicles at 386 sites in 25 counties throughout the State. The total of 295,092 vehicles observed for the study included cars, vans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and trucks normally used for personal transportation. Commercial vehicles were excluded from this survey. Drivers and front seat outboard passengers of the eligible (non-commercial) vehicles were observed for seat belt usage at select locations throughout the State. Raw data were entered into the SAS system database and submitted to the College of Natural Sciences Statistics Laboratory for independent analysis. The results of the analyses are included herein. work the in the conduct the 2008 Colorado Seat Belt Usage Study. I the design of this study is most representative of the population movements and trends within the State of Colorado and thus provides us with a more accurate projection of actual seat belt usage. The data and the analyses that are submitted to CDOT/OTS are, to the best of my knowledge, accurate and complete.