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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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      <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
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    <item>
      <title>Automating Statewide Seat Belt Monitoring </title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2665665</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Despite some recent improvements, seat belt usage in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana remains below the national average of 91.9%. These relatively low usage rates position three of the Southern Plains Transportation Center (SPTC) region states among the states with the lowest seat belt compliance, highlighting the need for enhanced safety initiatives and monitoring methods. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires annual statewide surveys of seat belt use to be eligible for federal funding for highway safety programs, funds that are used for traffic safety campaigns and enforcement programs.   

This project aims to enhance traffic safety programs aimed at education and enforcement of seat belt use. This project will automate statewide seat belt monitoring using Connected Vehicle (CV) and crash report data. CV and crash report data have the potential to reduce data collection burdens for seat belt use monitoring which is used for enforcement and education programs. The project tasks are to (1) implement a full-scale survey of seat belt engagement chain of event processes, and (2) develop mathematical models to estimate the relationship between observational seat belt use and belt use reported by crash reports. Replacing manual observations that are currently used to collect statewide seatbelt use data with continuous CV event and/or crash report data will enable more temporally and spatially continuous observations of seat belt usage. 

This project builds on SPTC Cycle 2 work which established a pilot project to evaluate seat belt engagement chain of events through naturalistic driving study and developed an exploratory model of observed seat belt use and seat belt use reported in crash records using historical data. The pilot project established survey protocols, equipment specifications for dashboard cameras, collected data for a small number of participants (<15 samples), and established a numerical relationship between observed and crash reported belt use.  The proposed work will expand the sample size for both the naturalistic driving experiments and modeling efforts. Cycle 2 outcomes directly support this next step, allowing the project to move from exploratory analysis toward a more operational modeling framework. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:21:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2665665</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Intervention Strategies to Enhance Motorcoach Seatbelt Use</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2643026</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Seatbelt use among motorcoach passengers remains extremely low despite federal requirements for lap and shoulder belts on new vehicles. Prior research indicates that verbal safety announcements and visible promotional messaging can improve awareness and compliance, yet these practices have not been consistently adopted across the motorcoach industry. This project addresses the gap between known effective strategies and real-world implementation.

The research will develop, test, and refine targeted training and promotional materials designed for motorcoach drivers, dispatchers, terminal managers, and regulatory agencies. Activities include the creation of instructional podcasts, educational brochures, and guidance documents outlining effective promotional practices and regulatory roles. The effectiveness of these interventions will be evaluated using surveys and implementation metrics. Results will support scalable best practices that can be adopted nationwide to improve motorcoach passenger safety.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2025 14:46:45 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2643026</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SAFE Schools For Safer Future
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2628212</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Seatbelts Are For Everyone (SAFE) is a Kansas state initiative program launched in 2008 by DCCCA Inc. (Developing Caring Communities Committed to Action) to increase teen restraint compliance through education, positive reinforcement, and enforcement. This teen-led, peer-to-peer program aims to reduce the number of teen motor vehicle injuries and fatalities. The SAFE program has been a component of the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office (KTSRO) for over a decade. The program was expanded to Oklahoma and Missouri in 2014 and 2016 respectively, and Iowa adopted the program in 2021. 
The goal of the current research project is to understand the efficacy of the SAFE program through a multifaceted approach. This project will be conducted in two parts; the first part includes surveying high school students on the topics of seatbelt, traffic laws and other safe driving behaviors covered by the SAFE program that can help in understanding their attitudes, perceptions, knowledge and experience regarding road safety and how it differs between students participating SAFE and non-SAFE schools. In addition, this part will also include socioeconomic analysis to determine the influence of equity factors on the driving behaviors and perception of Kansas teen drivers. The second part of the study will include conducting literature review, examining Kansas fatal and serious injury crashes involving teens over a 13-year period, from 2010 to 2023, and their potential contributing factors, identifying various safety programs, best practices and initiatives across the nation focused on improving teen safety and emphasizing the importance of educating and training young drivers during their early driving phases. It is critical to instill safe driving behavior for young people from an early age to foster a safety culture and better mobility in the future.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 14:27:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2628212</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Connected Vehicle Data for Statewide Seat Belt Use Estimation: Proof of Concept </title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2480356</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project aims to explore the use of Connected Vehicle (CV) data to estimate statewide seat belt use, replacing the current manual observation method mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). CV data contains records of seat belt activity that may be leveraged to estimate statewide seatbelt usage. Third-party data providers like Wejo and Geotab collect and anonymize CV data so that it can be used by transportation agencies, researchers, and others. Currently, states must conduct extensive manual seat belt use surveys, which are time-consuming and subject to human error. By leveraging anonymized CV event data, this research will provide a proof of concept for a more efficient, accurate, and scalable method to gather seat belt usage data.
CV data offers the potential to collect seat belt engagement data continuously, providing richer insights without the need for costly manual observations. Data from vehicles like those using OnStar services can track seat belt latch events, which can be analyzed for patterns in seat belt use across various times, road types, and regions. A recent report by the USDOT Office of Highway Policy, Travel Monitoring Surveys division titled “Post event Connected Vehicle Data Exploration- Lessons Learned” (2024), used CV data from Wejo and the USDOT Joint Program Office CV pilot project to investigate the feasibility of several applications including seat belt use monitoring. The CV data used in the USDOT report contained instantaneous records with timestamps of seat belt engagement as latched or unlatched.  The report connected latched/unlatched events to associated trips to examine latched/unlatched behavior in the context of speed, distance, and travel time (time spent under respective latched/unlatched status). 
The proposed work expands on the USDOT study in two ways. First, the USDOT study did not evaluate the correlation between seat belt usage statistics generated from CV data and those of observed data such as that collected by states for NHTSA mandated studies. Second, the USDOT study did not investigate the belt latch chain of events, e.g., belt latch before/after vehicle engaged, etc. This is critical knowledge needed for the potential use of CV event data for seat belt use monitoring.  For the proposed work, we will use survey and technology-based approaches to determine latch event chains. By quantifying seat belt latch chain of event, we will be able to determine the degree to which CV event data for seat belt events can replace or supplement traditional means of seat belt use data collection. 
The project is divided into four main tasks. Task 1: Driver and Passenger Survey: A survey will collect data on the timing of seat belt engagement relative to engine startup, as this affects whether CVs can record seat belt use events in a statistically representative way. Task 2: Technology Review: Alternate technologies, such as Event Data Recorders (EDRs) and hospital records, will be examined for their feasibility in capturing seat belt use data. Task 3: Data Collection and Analysis: Statistical models will be developed to correlate manual seat belt observations with CV data, assessing the representativeness of CV data; Task 4: Cost Feasibility Study: A comparative analysis of the costs associated with manual seat belt surveys versus CV data collection will be performed to evaluate the economic feasibility of implementing CV-based seat belt use monitoring.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jan 2025 16:28:27 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2480356</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Advancing the Motorcoach Seatbelt Promotional Campaign on Regularly Scheduled Routes and Charter Services in New England to Reduce Fatalities and Injury Severity</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2472697</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Despite federal mandates requiring seatbelt installation on new motorcoaches since 2016, passenger seatbelt usage remains critically low, with rates under 5% compared to 90% in automobiles. This study seeks to improve motorcoach safety by developing and testing a set of promotional actions, implemented onboard, at boarding platforms, and in terminals, to encourage seatbelt use. The project will measure the impact of these actions through pre- and post-intervention seatbelt usage counts across New England routes and explore opportunities for state and federal regulatory support. By disseminating an expanded promotional kit and engaging stakeholders, the research aims to establish industry-wide best practices for seatbelt promotion, supporting the intent of safety regulations and reducing fatalities and injuries in motorcoach travel.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Dec 2024 10:12:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2472697</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Click It or Ticket Evaluation</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2447244</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The primary objective of this project is to conduct an evaluation of the Click It or Ticket (CIOT) program as currently implemented. The evaluation will include both a nationally representative survey and a quasi-experiment comparing seat belt use at sites with varying levels of CIOT-related law enforcement participation and media exposure. To this end, the following will be collected or obtained: seat belt observations; surveys of program awareness, perceived risk of ticketing, and self-reported behavior change; locations of media placements and estimated or actual impressions; census data on demographic and other potentially relevant factors; citation data, including times and locations of violations, and demographic information on offenders, if available; number of participating law enforcement agencies; law enforcement hours contributed; and, locations and times of related law enforcement activity. A secondary objective of this project is to disaggregate and attribute, to the extent they are found to exist, observed effects of CIOT on seat belt use rates to the program’s enforcement and messaging components.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 01 Nov 2024 12:35:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2447244</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Strategies to Reach the Last U.S. Seat Belt Use Holdouts</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2269965</link>
      <description><![CDATA[According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 50% of passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes in 2021 were unrestrained, based on known restraint use. Buckling up is the single most effective thing drivers and passengers can do to protect themselves from death or serious injury in a motor vehicle crash. Seat belt use in passenger vehicles is estimated to save more than 10,000 lives annually in the United States. Although most Americans seem to understand the lifesaving value of seat belts (the national seat belt use rate was at 91.6% in 2022), large numbers of vehicle occupants still do not buckle up. The failure of even a small percentage of vehicle occupants to use seat belts contributes to large numbers of deaths and serious injuries.

The objective of this research is to design and conduct research on the remaining fraction of vehicle occupants who do not use seat belts, with the goal of identifying practical, actionable countermeasures that can be implemented by state highway safety offices (SHSOs) and their partners to motivate the last seat belt use holdouts to buckle up. To reach the holdouts, understanding underlying issues is critical. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Oct 2023 20:23:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2269965</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Office of Behavioral Safety Research Topic Area Meetings: Older Drivers, Novice Drivers, Distracted Drivers, &amp; Seat Belt Use</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2256372</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this project is to plan and hold four (4) one-day meetings, one for each of the following topic areas: Older Adults’ Mobility, Novice Driver Safety, Distracted Driving, and Seat Belt Use. Meeting participants will present findings from recently concluded projects, ongoing research activities, and planned projects related to each of the relevant topic areas. The meetings will be held around the time of, and near the site of, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting to facilitate attendance of those attending TRB. Following the meetings, four (4) Meeting Summary Reports summarizing the presentations and discussions will be developed and distributed.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Sep 2023 13:30:09 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2256372</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Social Norming for Seat Belt use</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2256371</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this Task Order is to provide the basis for one or more future social norming occupant protection programs. To this end, it will involve creating a set of documents, based on review of existing empirical research and theory pertaining to social norming in traffic safety and other domains, to inform the development and implementation of social norming programs to increase seat belt use. The documents will include a practitioner’s resource for social norming program development, two social norming strategy frameworks to guide future program development, two implementation plans to guide the implementation of the social norming strategies, and theory-based assessments of two current or previously conducted social norming traffic safety programs.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Sep 2023 13:26:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2256371</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>NY State Rear Seat Belt Law Evaluation</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2071567</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Beginning on November 1, 2020, all passengers in rear seats in New York state, aged 16 and older, must wear seat belts under a new law signed August 11. This project would evaluate the effect of the law on rear belt use by examining implementation and conducting observations of belt use.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 28 Nov 2022 14:20:06 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2071567</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Buckle Up, Phone Down Evaluation</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1883833</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The project will produce a report describing the results of both a process evaluation and an outcome evaluation assessing the effectiveness of Buckle Up Phone Down (BUPD) with respect to increasing belt use and decreasing phone use while driving. In order to combat these two risky behaviors, Missouri Department of Transportation
(MoDOT) implemented the BUPD challenge in 2017. MoDOT partnered with local organizations such as businesses, elected officials, restaurants, schools, and professional sports teams to spread their campaign materials and messaging. They also designed a pledge in which partners could sign and promise to wear their seat belt and put their phone away while driving. The promise of BUPD, along with the seat belt and distracted driving problem in the United States, has motivated NHTSA to replicate the BUPD challenge and assess the effectiveness of the program using an independent evaluation. BUPD will be carried out at two sites outside of Missouri
under a separate NHTSA contract. This related project will assess the effectiveness of the BUPD campaign in increasing belt use and decreasing cell phone use while driving through observational data collected for an outcome evaluation and through a comprehensive process evaluation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 07 Oct 2021 18:32:19 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1883833</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Seat Belt Use State of Knowledge</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1858082</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project will produce a report in which each chapter contains a comprehensive systematic literature review that summarizes, evaluates, and synthesizes research published since 2000 on topics related to seat belt use. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has previously published periodic “State of Knowledge” reports on a variety of behavioral safety topics. However, the current project represents the first on issues related to seat belt use. The current project will apply systematic review procedures to comprehensively identify and evaluate the quality of studies on a selection of topics related to seat belt use.  Each chapter of the Seat Belt Use State of Knowledge report will describe the selected studies, aggregate findings across studies, and weigh study quality to provide a synthesis of the best evidence to date on the topic. The State of Knowledge is intended to be a reference document for both in-house use and use by other Federal agencies, State Highway Safety Offices, and other partners. The report will also be of use to researchers interested in seat belt use and others interested in increasing seat belt use.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 09 Jun 2021 15:56:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1858082</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluation of New York's Rear Seat Belt Law</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1856724</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project examines the effectiveness the New York seat belt law change in increasing rear seat belt use by
1. Conducting a process evaluation to document the implementation of the program
including, but not limited to, enforcement efforts/activities and communications;
and
2. Conducting an outcome evaluation including changes in seat belt use as measured
by observation surveys.
The results will be summarized in a final report.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jun 2021 15:23:11 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1856724</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Objectives, Components, and Measures of Effective Traffic Safety Public Awareness and Education Efforts







</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1716998</link>
      <description><![CDATA[BTSCRP Research Report 14: Evaluating Traffic Safety Campaigns: A Guide provides insights into current practices for measuring the effectiveness of behavioral-based traffic safety campaigns. It also presents a framework for evaluating traffic safety campaigns, with the goal of designing and conducting future campaigns to more effectively promote safer road user behaviors. This report will be of interest to state highway safety offices (SHSOs) and other stakeholders concerned with understanding the effectiveness of traffic safety campaigns and associated outcomes. 

Most states have engaged in some sort of behavioral-based traffic safety programs using education and enforcement to change road user behavior. Well-known examples include NHTSA’s Click It or Ticket and Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaigns. With law enforcement agencies across the nation now facing resource challenges, many states are experiencing less participation in these types of campaigns.

Some states have launched new behavioral-based traffic safety campaigns focused more on public awareness, education, and individual responsibility. These campaigns can present some evidence of effectiveness, but such effects are often limited to communication metrics (e.g., number of impressions) rather than behavioral outcomes. A better understanding of how to measure the effectiveness of such campaigns would help create successful and sustainable initiatives. 

Under BTSCRP Project BTS-18, “Objectives, Components, and Measures of Effective Traffic Safety Public Awareness and Education Efforts,” Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University was asked to (1) identify current practices used by SHSOs and other entities to evaluate the effectiveness of traffic safety campaigns and associated outcomes, and (2) develop a practical and scalable framework for evaluating how to engage road users, through traffic safety campaigns, to change behavior and improve safety performance. The focus of this research was public awareness and education campaigns regarding nonenforcement traffic safety. 

Appendix A, Costing Tool, and an evaluation matrix are supplemental products to BTSCRP Research Report 14. These products can be found on the National Academies Press website (nap.nationalacademies.org) by searching for BTSCRP Research Report 14: Evaluating Traffic Safety Campaigns: A Guide. 

BTSCRP Web-Only Document 7 is a companion to BTSCRP Research Report 14. The web-only document describes the research methodology and can be found on the National Academies Press website (nap.nationalacademies.org) by searching for BTSCRP Web-Only Document 7: Objectives, Components, and Measures of Effective Traffic Safety Public Awareness and Education Efforts.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2020 12:06:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1716998</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Countermeasures That/At Work Updates</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1656363</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objectives of this project are to develop the 11th and 12th editions of Countermeasures That Work and the 2nd edition of Countermeasures At Work. The Countermeasures That Work guide was originally prepared in 2005 and is now updated biennially with the 10th edition to be published in 2020. Countermeasures That Work addresses countermeasures in the ten program areas of alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, seat belt use and child restraints, speeding and speed management, distracted driving, drowsy driving, motorcycle safety, young
drivers, older drivers, pedestrian safety, and bicycle safety. Each of these topic chapters includes a short background section relaying current data trends that is followed by a description of applicable countermeasures, and an explanation their effectiveness, use, cost, and time to implement. The guide additionally provides a list of resource websites and references for each topic. This project will update the 11th edition, which will be published in 2021, and the 12th edition, which will be published in 2023. The 11th edition of Countermeasures That Work will cover material published in the two-year period between 6/1/2018-5/31/2020, and the 12th edition will cover the interval between 6/1/2020-5/31/2022. The companion document Countermeasures At Work will be published in the interim between the 11th and 12th editions of Countermeasures That Work. The 2nd Countermeasures At Work edition will update the current four- and five-star countermeasure write-ups with new localities that are using the targeted effective countermeasures. The 2nd edition will also add a three-star countermeasure locality synopses.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Oct 2019 14:25:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1656363</guid>
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