For whom didn’t it click? A study of the non-use of seat belts in motor vehicle fatalities in New Zealand

The aim of this research was to determine profiles of a representative sample of seat belt non-users who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in New Zealand between 2011-2015. A Safe System analysis of 186 vehicle occupant fatality reports (n=200 fatalities) was conducted and 63 variables were coded for each case. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis explored relationships between the variables and identified five clusters of individuals with similar characteristics. The profiles were: ‘young and risky’; ‘driving for work’; ‘elderly and retired’; ‘passengers from overseas’; and ‘people driving in rural settings’. Initiatives to reduce seat belt non-use road deaths should consider what will most likely influence these various groups, acknowledging that each profile may need to be targeted with a different approach.