The effect of positive reinforcement on adolescent seat belt use

Abstract

Several different programs nationwide have attempted to increase seat belt use among young drivers. Programs producing increased seat belt use characteristically have strong student involvement, incentives, and educational components. Rhinelander High School Buckle Down was a student driven program designed to encourage high school seniors to wear their seat belts. A pre-observational survey discovered that thirty-four percent of the high school seniors that left the school parking lot for lunch were buckled up. Seniors were the target group because they were the only students eligible to leave campus during lunch periods. Using educational materials, assemblies, seat belt activities, and incentives, seat belt compliance was observed to be sixty-four percent four weeks after the conclusion of the program. Part of the success of the Rhinelander High School Buckle Down program was the high level of student activity. Two high school students shared the results and consequences of their personal crash, one student was wearing a seat belt the other was not. Students were featured on posters wearing a seat belt, their reason for buckling up was quoted on the bottom of the poster. The Rhinelander High School Buckle Down Around was an activity first performed at a school dance. Teams of four students attempted to buckle and unbuckle themselves as quickly as possible in all four seats of the vehicle, this resembled a “Chinese Fire Drill” with seat belts. Community support for the Buckle Down program was tremendous, many businesses provided merchandise to be given away for weekly and monthly prizes. Students became eligible for prizes by being “cited” for wearing their seat belt. The program was a twenty-four hour, seven days a week program extending community wide. If a faculty or staff member saw a student wearing their seat belt anywhere a “citation” could be written. Of course, law enforcement within the city and county participated in writing “citations”. This provided officers a great public relations opportunity to talk with teens and issue them a friendly “citation”. Students were not penalized for not buckling up, it was recognized that the habit of buckling up needed to be reinforced. By rewarding the desired behavior, wearing a seat belt, it was believed that students would respond positively. In researching various states seat belt programs, the effect of primary and secondary enforcement was too great to be ignored. States with primary enforcement had at least a 10 percent increase in seat belt use rates as compared to states with secondary enforcement. The correlation of fines to seat belt compliance was also significant. The higher the fine, the greater the seat belt use among all age groups.