Trends in the use of seat belts and mobile phones and their seasonal variations in Florence (2005-2015).
<h4>Introduction</h4>About 1.25 million people worldwide die every year because of road accidents. Risk is higher when drivers use mobile phones, whereas seat belts help to prevent crash-related injury. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence, associated factors, and temporal trend of the us...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2018-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208489 |
| _version_ | 1819115246703345664 |
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| author | Chiara Lorini Jacopo Bianchi Gino Sartor Maria Grazia Santini Anna Mersi Saverio Caini Guglielmo Bonaccorsi |
| author_facet | Chiara Lorini Jacopo Bianchi Gino Sartor Maria Grazia Santini Anna Mersi Saverio Caini Guglielmo Bonaccorsi |
| author_sort | Chiara Lorini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Introduction</h4>About 1.25 million people worldwide die every year because of road accidents. Risk is higher when drivers use mobile phones, whereas seat belts help to prevent crash-related injury. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence, associated factors, and temporal trend of the use of seat belts and mobile phones among drivers and passengers in Florence, Italy (2005-2015).<h4>Methods</h4>Use of seat belts and mobile phones use was monitored via direct observation in four areas in the province of Florence. We fitted Poisson regression models with robust variance to investigate the factors associated with the use of seat belts and mobile phones use by the drivers and to explore long-term trends and seasonal patterns in the two time-series.<h4>Results</h4>We observed a total of an overall 134,775 vehicles: seat belts were worn by 71.8% of drivers and front-seat passengers and 27.6% of back-seat passengers, while mobile phones were being used by 4.8% of drivers. Drivers were more likely to wear seat belt when transporting passengers (≥2 vs none: prevalence ratio [PR] 1.21, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.14-1.29) and while driving in the afternoon (PR 1.04, 95% CI 1.03-1.05), and less likely when the front-seat passenger was not wearing seat belts (PR 0.33, 95% CI 0.32-0.34). After an initial increase, seat belts use by the driver decreased over time (-0.5% each year during 2010-2015), with significant peaks and troughs in July and January, respectively. Mobile phone use by the driver was inversely associated with wearing seat belts (PR 0.67, 95% CI 0.64-0.70) and carrying passengers (≥2 vs. none PR 0.20, 95% CI 0.07-0.52). The proportion of drivers using mobile phones did not vary over time nor showed any clear seasonality.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Drivers' risky behaviours (not wearing a seat belt and using a mobile phone) are associated, showing a global misperception of risk among a subset of drivers. The number of passengers and their behaviour is also associated with the driver's attitude. The effectiveness of primary enforcement laws has declined in Italy in recent years; therefore, other strategies should be devised and implemented. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:58:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-112ad6a3c1f14a7d87d5889c3cf3230f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:58:09Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-112ad6a3c1f14a7d87d5889c3cf3230f2022-12-21T18:38:20ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032018-01-011312e020848910.1371/journal.pone.0208489Trends in the use of seat belts and mobile phones and their seasonal variations in Florence (2005-2015).Chiara LoriniJacopo BianchiGino SartorMaria Grazia SantiniAnna MersiSaverio CainiGuglielmo Bonaccorsi<h4>Introduction</h4>About 1.25 million people worldwide die every year because of road accidents. Risk is higher when drivers use mobile phones, whereas seat belts help to prevent crash-related injury. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence, associated factors, and temporal trend of the use of seat belts and mobile phones among drivers and passengers in Florence, Italy (2005-2015).<h4>Methods</h4>Use of seat belts and mobile phones use was monitored via direct observation in four areas in the province of Florence. We fitted Poisson regression models with robust variance to investigate the factors associated with the use of seat belts and mobile phones use by the drivers and to explore long-term trends and seasonal patterns in the two time-series.<h4>Results</h4>We observed a total of an overall 134,775 vehicles: seat belts were worn by 71.8% of drivers and front-seat passengers and 27.6% of back-seat passengers, while mobile phones were being used by 4.8% of drivers. Drivers were more likely to wear seat belt when transporting passengers (≥2 vs none: prevalence ratio [PR] 1.21, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.14-1.29) and while driving in the afternoon (PR 1.04, 95% CI 1.03-1.05), and less likely when the front-seat passenger was not wearing seat belts (PR 0.33, 95% CI 0.32-0.34). After an initial increase, seat belts use by the driver decreased over time (-0.5% each year during 2010-2015), with significant peaks and troughs in July and January, respectively. Mobile phone use by the driver was inversely associated with wearing seat belts (PR 0.67, 95% CI 0.64-0.70) and carrying passengers (≥2 vs. none PR 0.20, 95% CI 0.07-0.52). The proportion of drivers using mobile phones did not vary over time nor showed any clear seasonality.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Drivers' risky behaviours (not wearing a seat belt and using a mobile phone) are associated, showing a global misperception of risk among a subset of drivers. The number of passengers and their behaviour is also associated with the driver's attitude. The effectiveness of primary enforcement laws has declined in Italy in recent years; therefore, other strategies should be devised and implemented.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208489 |
| spellingShingle | Chiara Lorini Jacopo Bianchi Gino Sartor Maria Grazia Santini Anna Mersi Saverio Caini Guglielmo Bonaccorsi Trends in the use of seat belts and mobile phones and their seasonal variations in Florence (2005-2015). PLoS ONE |
| title | Trends in the use of seat belts and mobile phones and their seasonal variations in Florence (2005-2015). |
| title_full | Trends in the use of seat belts and mobile phones and their seasonal variations in Florence (2005-2015). |
| title_fullStr | Trends in the use of seat belts and mobile phones and their seasonal variations in Florence (2005-2015). |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trends in the use of seat belts and mobile phones and their seasonal variations in Florence (2005-2015). |
| title_short | Trends in the use of seat belts and mobile phones and their seasonal variations in Florence (2005-2015). |
| title_sort | trends in the use of seat belts and mobile phones and their seasonal variations in florence 2005 2015 |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208489 |
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