Seat Belt Use Among Adolescents
Summary Indicator Report Data View Options
Percentage of Students Who Never or Rarely Wore a Seat Belt by County, Grades 9-12, New Mexico, 2013
Why Is This Important?
Motor vehicle-related injuries kill more children and young adults than any other single cause in the United States and are the leading cause of death from injury for people of all ages (1). In 2009, motor vehicle crashes took the lives of more than 300 people in New Mexico, including 77 adolescents, age 15-24. (2) Use of child safety seats and safety belts and deterrence of alcohol-impaired driving are among the most important preventive measures to further reduce motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths (1).
Definition
Percentage of students who answered rarely or never wore a seat belt when riding in a car driven by someone else
Data Sources
- U.S. data source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data
(https://nccd.cdc.gov/Youthonline) - New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey, New Mexico Department of Health and Public Education Department.
How the Measure is Calculated
| Numerator: | Number of students who answered, "Never" or "Rarely", to the question, "How often do you wear a seat belt when riding in a car driven by someone else?" |
| Denominator: | Number of students who answered the question, "How often do you wear a seat belt when riding in a car driven by someone else?" |
Evidence-based Practices
The Task Force on Community Preventive Services recommends the following measures for increasing the use of seat belts and other automobile restraint devices: * Laws mandating the use of restraints * Primary (vs. secondary) enforment laws * Enhanced enforcements programs For more information, please visit http://www.thecommunityguide.org/mvoi/safetybelts/index.html.
More Resources
References: (1) Guide to Community Preventive Services, Motor Vehicle-Related Injury Prevention. Downloaded from http://www.thecommunityguide.org/mvoi/index.html on 01/12/2011. (2) New Mexico Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, New Mexico Department of Health. Retrieved on 01/12/2011 from New Mexico Department of Health, Indicator-Based Information System for Public Health website: http://ibis.health.state.nm.us/