Seat belt law enforcement and racial disparities in seat belt use.

Background: Numerous reports have documented a lower prevalence of seat belt use among blacks in the United States, compared with whites. Limited data suggest that black-white disparities in states with primary seat belt laws (motorists can be stopped and cited solely for violating a seat belt law) are less marked than in states with secondary laws (motorists can be cited for violating a seat belt law only if stopped for another offense).

Methods: Data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System were analyzed in 2005 to compare seat belt use among 11,574 blacks and 73,639 whites aged 16 or more years killed in crashes from 1999 to 2003 in 33 states with a primary or secondary adult seat belt law and annual reporting of race for 80% or more of decedents.

Seatbelt law enforcement and motor vehicle crash fatalities among blacks and whites in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Background: Seatbelt laws save lives. Primary enforcement (allowing citations solely for seatbelt nonuse) is a more effective means of saving lives, yet seven southern states have no primary laws, due in part to concern about racial profiling.

Methods: Non-Hispanic, black:white (B:W), occupant motor vehicle crash mortality rate ratios (MRRs) were compared across the 15 to 64 age range over two time periods in two demographically comparable southern states (Louisiana and Mississippi).