Click It or Ticket

Suite of Surveys
SSRC Evaluators: Completed for the
Mississippi Office of Highway Safety
Mr. Jim Landrum Dr. Billy White Jr., Executive Director
Dr. Wolfgang Frese Division Of Public Safety Planning
Mr. David Parrish
Ms. Jean Mann Mr. Billy Terrell, Director
Office of Highway Safety
Department of Public Safety
Governor’s Highway Safety Representative

December 6, 2001
 THE MISSISSIPPI “CLICK IT OR TICKET CAMPAIGN”

Introduction

“Traffic Safety Fact in 1996: Rural Areas” reported that crashes in rural areas accounted

for 59 percent of all traffic fatalities. Additionally, in fatal crashes for which restraint use was

known, a higher percentage of drivers in rural areas were unrestrained than in urban areas.

According to the same report, in 1996, 30 percent of occupants killed in rural areas were ejected

from their vehicles, compared to 21 percent in urban areas. In the same year, Rural Interstate

fatality rates were twice that of Urban Interstate Highways. (Traffic Safety Facts 1996) The

figures can be doubly underlined in the Rural South. The fatality rates are even more

emphatically pronounced in Mississippi, where seat belt use continues to be very low.

Mississippi citizens are aware of the dangers of driving in Mississippi. In recent surveys

taken by the Social Science Research Center, 76% of Mississippians feared being in an

automobile accident. One out of every five persons reported being in a serious automobile

accident. (Snow 1998) Nationwide 69% feared being in an accident, and almost one out of every

four persons reported being in a serious accident.. (Snow 1999)

During the 1990's Mississippi was one of the top three states in the nation in highway

fatalities with regard to percentages of registered vehicles, population, and vehicle miles driven.

Except for 1990 and 1991 Mississippi ranked in the top two States in terms of fatalities per

100,000 licensed drivers. In spite of having a small population of slightly more than 2.5 million

people the actual number of persons killed on Mississippi roads approaches many of the nation’s

larger states. During the decade of the 1990's, 8,249 persons were killed on Mississippi roads.

There was on average more than two persons killed every day or 69 persons every month for10

years. In Table 1 the ranking of Mississippi in fatality rates for the decade of the nineties is

presented.
 2

Table 1: NATIONAL RANK OF MISSISSIPPI IN FATALITY RATES 1990 -1999

Rank Per 100,000 Per 100,000 Fatality rates per

Per 100,000 Registered population 100 million
Year
licensed Vehicles vehicle miles
drivers traveled
1990 5 3 2 2
1991 5 2 3 1
1992 2 1 1 **
1993 1 1 1 **
1994 1 1 2 1
1995 1 1 2 **
1996 1 1 1 1
1997 1 2 1 2
1998 1 2 1 **
1999 2 1 2 1

Data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) of the National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration provide support for some of the reasons that rankings are so

alarmingly high. Some highlights of FARS data are listed below:

During the 1990's, 8,249 persons were killed on Mississippi roads.

• 4,887 were riding in automobiles and station wagons

• 1,727 were riding in pickup trucks
• 580 were pedestrians
• 555 were killed while riding in utility vans, mini vans, and limousines
• 176 were killed on motorcycles, mopeds or ATVS
• 129 were killed while riding in big trucks.
• 73 were killed while riding on bicycles
• 13 were killed on farm equipment
• 109 of those killed had missing information as to the type of vehicle.

There is little doubt that the Draconian fatality rates in Mississippi are in part attributable
 3

to the embarrassingly low use of seat belts in the State. Further information taken from FARS

demonstrates this observation.

• During the 1990s Mississippi had one of the lowest rates of seat belt use in the entire
nation.
• Fewer than one in five persons killed riding in passenger type vehicles were wearing a
restraint.
• Overall 28 percent of those riding in sedan type cars, pickup trucks, utility vehicles, and
big trucks were ejected or partially ejected.
• None of the persons totally ejected and only 11 of those partially ejected were wearing
seat belts.

Click It or Ticket Campaign in Eight Southeastern States

Similarly, the Southeastern region, as a whole, lags behind the rest of the nation in seat

belt use. To combat the low seat belt use in the region a media and enforcement campaign was

conducted in a “Click It Or Ticket” Memorial Day Mobilization Campaign. The media and

enforcement interventions took place between May 7- June 3, 2001. The campaign resulted in

raising seat belt use from 65% to 74% in the eight states that make up Region IV of the National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Increases in seat belt use occurred in all

states. Tennessee had the largest gain (20 percentage points) followed by Mississippi which

added 13 percentage points. Georgia and Kentucky gained 10 percentage points.

According to the NHTSA regional office this translates into 659 lives being saved and

$937 million saved in health care and other costs. (Click, Summer 2001). Troy Ayers, the

NHTSA Region IV Administrator, summed the results of the Southeastern wide Click It or

Ticket Campaign at the Embassy Suites in Atlanta on August 7, 2001. Ayers reported that the

Click It or Ticket Campaign was probably the largest law enforcement mobilization ever

conducted. In a remarkable effort of coordination all 3,250 State and local law enforcement

agencies in the region participated in the Campaign. During the law enforcement phase of the

“Click It or Ticket Project” there were more than 25,000 checkpoint or patrol events, 138,000

seat belt citations issued, 8,500 drunk drivers cited, and 250 stolen car theft arrests. The paid
 4

media campaign, which ran from May 14-28, cost about 3.5 million dollars. As a part of the

campaign strategy, a standard evaluation plan was implemented in all eight states. In the August

7 meeting in Atlanta, Dr. Jim Nichols of NHTSA reported that this was perhaps the most

intensive campaign and evaluation of this type of effort ever conducted.

The Click It or Ticket Program was modeled after a highly successful program, by the

same name, that was previously conducted in the State of South Carolina. Representatives from

the States of (1) Alabama, (2) Georgia, (3) Kentucky, (4) Florida, (5) Mississippi, (6) North

Carolina, (7) South Carolina, and (8) Tennessee met on a number of occasions to design the

campaign and to standardize the evaluation efforts of the eight states.

The Click It or Ticket Campaign in Mississippi

The Click or Ticket campaign for the State of Mississippi was conducted under the

sponsorship of the Mississippi Office of Highway Safety and the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

All law enforcement agencies in the State of Mississippi participated in the campaign for

increased traffic and seat belt enforcement. In Mississippi more than 2,200 checkpoints and

patrol interventions occurred over the Memorial Day Weekend. An earned media campaign was

conducted by State public relations offices of the Highway Patrol and the Office of Highway

Safety. Earned media is positive news coverage you actively work to get. This happens through

the creation of newsworthy stories or events and offering this stories to news outlets.

A paid media campaign was prepared and conducted by Greer, Margolis, Mitchell, Burns

and Associates of Washington, D.C., also with the assistance of the Mississippi Office of

Highway Safety and Mississippi Highway Patrol. The paid media campaign cost more than

$250,000. Evaluation of the Campaign was conducted by the Social Science Research Center at

Mississippi State University with the assistance of the Preusser Research Group in Trumbull,

Connecticut.
 5

The project included a number of interventions. First, there was an earned media

campaign in which public service spots were provided for the various media. Secondly, some

paid media spots, developed by a Burns, Margolis, Mitchell, Burns and Associates for the State

of Mississippi were used extensively. Thirdly, a law enforcement intervention, that included a

series of checkpoints, was implemented in all 82 Mississippi Counties over the Memorial Day

weekend.

This report will describe the findings of an intensive and extensive evaluation effort

designed to measure the effects of these interventions. This effort included (1) baseline and post

scientifically implemented statewide seat belt surveys, (2) pre and post scientific telephone

surveys of Mississippi residents, (3) surveys conducted at selected Drivers’ License stations

during the baseline period, after the earned media phase, after the paid media phase and after the

enforcement phase, and finally (4) mini observational seat belt surveys were conducted in 64

representative sites in eight Mississippi counties prior to, and after the earned media phase, after

the paid media phase and following the enforcement phase. Information collected during the

Mini Surveys included seat belt use by race, sex, cars, and pickup trucks. This information aided

in determining the effectiveness of the various interventions on different groups of people. The

following is a description of the campaign and an evaluation of the results for the State of

Mississippi. This Report will be divided into four separate sections: (1) Telephone Surveys,

(2) Drivers’ License Surveys, (3) Mini Surveys, and (4) Statewide Seat Belt/Motorcycle

Surveys.
 Social Science Research Center

Click It or Ticket Mississippi State University

2001

Telephone
Surveys
 TELEPHONE SURVEYS

Introduction

Two scientifically conducted Telephone Surveys were conducted on Mississippi

residents before (April29-June 5)and after (June 2-14) when the of media and law enforcement

interventions were completed. The surveys were utilized to measure (a) the awareness of

Mississippi residents about seat belt usage, (b) knowledge of seat belt laws, and (c) their

awareness of the Click It or Ticket Campaign, before and after its implementation. Respondents

were asked the same questions before the campaign was conducted and after the campaign

implementation.

Questions were designed to elicit information on a wide range of questions such as (1)

frequency of driving and seat belt use, (2) reasons for wearing seat belts, (3) knowledge of seat

belt laws, (4) attitudes toward seat belt use, (5) attitudes on seat belt enforcement, and (6) the

respondents’ knowledge of the various media and enforcement waves of the Click It or Ticket

Project. The before project survey population included 500 Mississippi residents and the after

survey had 514 respondents. The surveys were weighted by age. The Surveys were conducted by

the Survey Research Unit of the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University.

Seat Belt Use

Respondents were asked a number of questions about their use of seat belts before and

after the media and law enforcement interventions. Positive increases in attitudes of the

respondents attitudes toward belt use and safety issues were substantially increased by the

campaign. These strong increases by the respondents occurred on two important fronts. First,

there was a huge increase in respondents’ reason given for use of seat belts being because it was

the law (from 18% to 59%). Lower but positive changes took place in (a) increased reported use
 8

of shoulder and lap belts, (b) not wanting to get a ticket, (c) and frequency of those reporting

that they always use their seat belt use. Peer influence and the experience of being in a crash did

not appear to have much influence on reported use. In Table 1, the before and after figures of the

frequency of seat belt use are reported.

Table: 2 SEAT BELT USE TELEPHONE SURVEY

Question Before After

How often do you wear your shoulder belt? n=452 n=482

(a) All of the Time 63% 75%

(b) Most of the Time 20% 16%

How often do you wear your lap belt? n=433 n=447

(a) All of the Time 63% 73%

(b) Most of the Time 20% 16%

In the past 30 days, has your seat belt usage increased? (Percent answering yes) n=463 n=487
15% 24%

What caused your use of belts to increase? n=69 n=118

(a) Increased awareness of safety issues 46% 39%

(b) Use seat belt because it is the law. 18% 59%

(c) Use seat belt because they don’t won’t to get a ticket. 7% 25%

(d)Use seat belt because they had been in a crash. 15% 0%

(e)Use seat belt because of influence/pressure from others 6% 2%

Knowledge of Mississippi’s Seat Belt Law

Mississippians, for the most part, know that Mississippi has a seat belt law. Interestingly,

the people’s perception of Mississippi having a primary law, even though it does not, increased

considerably (from 40% to 58%) from the time of the prior to the time of the post Telephone

Survey. The belief that police should be able to stop drivers for only seat belt violations also

increased considerably from 38% to 68% between the pre and post surveys. See Table 3
 9

Perception of the Likelihood of Getting a Ticket

The perception that they would get a ticket if they did not wear their seat belt in the next

six months increased sharply from 24% in the pre survey to 43% in the post survey. The reality

of getting a ticket, however, appears to be quite low however. Very few respondents reported

getting tickets from pre (4%) to the post (6%) surveys. The respondents were asked whether

they agreed or disagreed with the statement “Police in my community will not bother writing

tickets for seat belt violations.” In the pre survey 41% did not think that police would write a

ticket while 29% agreed that they would. In the post Telephone Survey only 31% agreed that

police were not likely to give a ticket for a seat belt violation, while 48% thought that their

community police would give a ticket for a seat belt violation. This represents a strong increase,

although not by a majority of respondents. Information concerning the knowledge and perception

of the respondents concerning law enforcement and seat belt use is presented in Table 3.
 10

TABLE 3: KNOWLEDGE OF BELT LAW AND PERCEPTION OF SEAT BELT

ENFORCEMENT

Question %Before % After

Does Mississippi have a law requiring seat belt use by adults? (Percent n=500 97
answering yes) 94 n=514

If you do not use your seat belt at all during the next six months how likely n=434 n=475
are you to get a ticket?

(a)Very Likely 24% 43%

(b) Somewhat likely 29% 25%

According to Mississippi law, can police stop a vehicle if they see only a Seat n=471 40% n=501
Belt violation? 58%

According to Mississippi law, police can stop a vehicle for a seat belt violation n=471 44% n=501
only if they see another violation. 27%

Should Police be allowed to stop a vehicle for a seat belt violation when there n=500 n=514
are no other traffic violations? 58 68

Have you ever been arrested for not wearing a seat belt? n=500 n=514
4 6

Police in my community will not bother to write tickets for seat belt n=500 n=514
violations.

(a) Strongly Agree 22% 11%

(b) Somewhat Agree 19% 21%

(c) Strongly Disagree 15% 26%

(d) Somewhat Disagree 16% 22%

Attitudes Toward Seat Belt Use

Attitudes toward seat belt use did not show strong increases between the pre and post

telephone surveys. However, it should be noted that there was already strong agreement among

the respondents in the before the interventions survey that it is important for the police to

enforce seat belt laws. The respondents were equally divided on whether or not seat belts were as

likely to help as to harm you. While there was only a slight increase in those who responded that

they would like to have their seat belt on in accidents, it must be remembered that more than

90% of the respondents in the pre and post surveys agreed that they would want to have a seat

belt on if they were in an accident. Seventy-seven percent in both interviews did not think that
 11

putting on a seat belt made them worry about being in an accident. Interestingly, there is very

strong support (87, 89%) in both pre and post interviews for police to enforce the seat belt laws.

In Table 4 information is provided on pre and post survey attitudes of the respondents on seat

belt use.

TABLE 4: ATTITUDES TOWARD SEAT BELT USE

Question % Before % After

n=500 n=514

It is important for Police to enforce seat belt laws

(a) Strongly Agree 64% 68%

(b) Somewhat Agree 23% 21%

(c) Strongly Disagree 7% 4%

(d) Somewhat Disagree 6% 5%

Seat Belts are just as likely to harm you as to help you. _____ ____

(a) Strongly Agree 17% 14%

(b) Somewhat Agree 21% 24%

(c) Strongly Disagree 32% 29%

(d) Somewhat Disagree 21% 24%

If I was in an accident, I would want to have my Seat Belt on. ____ ____

(a) Strongly Agree 79% 82%

(b) Somewhat Agree 11% 11%

(c) Strongly Disagree 3% 2%

(d) Somewhat Disagree 3% 1%

Putting on a seat belt makes me worry about being in an accident. ____ ____

(a) Strongly Agree 9% 11%

(b) Somewhat Agree 10% 10%

(c) Strongly Disagree 56% 54%

(d) Somewhat Disagree 22% 23%

Respondent were asked a series of questions about their awareness of the campaign

before and after the media was used. There was a huge increase in the public awareness before

any intervention had taken place to after the law enforcement intervention. Before the Click It or

Ticket Campaign 13% said they had heard of special efforts. Following the law enforcement
 12

intervention more than 62% of the respondents were aware of the increased law enforcement

effort. This information is presented graphically in Chart One

CHART ONE: RECENTLY HEARD OF CLICK IT OR TICKET CAMPAIGN

In Table 5 more detailed information is provided on the specific sources from people

he

ar
Special Effort Awareness
Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

d
2001 MS Click It or Ticket Telephone Survey
In the past 30 days have you seen or heard of special effort by police to ab
ticket drivers in your community for seat belt violations?
o
Yes 64 12.8%
ut
No 426 85.3%
th
Don 't Kn o w 10 1.9% Before e
0 100 200 300 400 500
Cl

Yes 319 62.0% ic

No 181 35.3%
k

It
Don 't Kn o w 14 2.7% After
or
0 100 200 300 400 500

Ti

cket Campaign. There were significant increases from before the campaign to after the campaign

in the awareness by the respondents of the campaign from a number of the media campaign

sources. Observe the fact that the percentages on the pre interview are based on quite different n’s

from the pre to the post survey. So while some of the pre and post differences appear to be close

in percentage of responses, i.e., “hear the message from a friend or relative,” the actual number of

those responding on the post interview is much higher than the baseline survey. In Table 5:
 13

Furthermore, it can be observed that all forms of media efforts made an impact on public

awareness. Commercials, advertisement, public service announcements and TV appear to have

been very effective. Almost 50% of the respondents reported hearing about the campaign on

news programs. Radio and hearing the information from friends and relatives appeared to be the

least effective.

Table 5: PROGRAM AWARENESS BY TYPES OF MEDIA CAMPAIGNS.

Question % %
“Yes” “Yes”
Before After

In the Past 30 days, have you seen or heard of any special effort by police to 13 62
ticket drivers in your community for seat belt violations? n=500 n=514

Did you hear that message on TV? 28 57

n=64 n=319

Did you hear the message on radio? 10 20

n=64 n=319

Did you hear that message from a friend or relative? 20 19

n=64 n=319

Did you see or hear the message some other place? (Please specify) 53 30
n=64 n=319

(a) commercial or advertisement or public service announcement? 62 70

n=22 n=202

(b) part of a news program? 33 49

n=22 n=202

Strength of Awareness of Click It Or Ticket Campaign

The next series of questions attempts to measure the strength of the public awareness

concerning the Click It Or Ticket Campaign and in the increased law enforcement effort. There

was a perceptible increase by the public in the increase of ticket writing by the police. Sixty-seven

(67%)of the public perceived that the police had increased their ticket writing efforts as opposed

to thirty (30%) before the project began. The public awareness of checkpoints jumped from

nineteen(19%) in the baseline survey to sixty-six (66%) in the post campaign survey. There was

considerable effort by the media to let the public know that there would be checkpoints.
 14

Apparently the combined media outlets were quite successful in informing the public of

checkpoints. The most substantial source in the increase of the respondents’ awareness of the

Click or Ticket from pre to post interviews came from television spots. Increases in awareness

from commercial, public service announcements or ads also rose significantly from pre to post

Surveys, from nineteen (19%) to forty-eight (48%). However, numbers of respondents in these

categories were small, particularly from the pre interview. See Table 6.

Table 6: STRENGTH OF AWARENESS OF TICKET OR CLICK IT CAMPAIGN

Question % %
Before After
Police in my community are writing more tickets than they were a few months ago?
n=500 n=514

(a) Strongly Agree 15 42

(b) Somewhat Agree 17 25

(c) Strongly Disagree 13 8

(e) Somewhat Disagree 10 3

(f) Don’t Know 45 22

In the past 30 days, have you seen or heard anything about the police setting up n=500 n=514
seat belt checkpoints where they stop motor vehicles to check whether drives and 19 66
passengers are wearing seat belts.

Where did you see or hear about the police checkpoints for seatbelts? n=76 n=325

(a) TV 22 38

(b) Radio 4 9

(c) Friend or Relative 23 28

Something else (specify) n=76 n=325

61 37

(a) Commercial, ad or public service announcement 19 48

n=20 n=136

(b) News story or program 87 73

(c) Something else (specify) 0 2

The next grouping of questions is concerned with the public’s actual experience with law

enforcement during the enforcement phase. Thirty-six (36%) of the respondents reported actually

seeing checkpoints within the past thirty days. That figure represents better than one out of every
 15

three Mississippians of driving age reporting that they had seen checkpoints. Forty six (46%) of

respondents in the pre interview and seventy(70%) in the post interview reported that they had

been stopped by police in a checkpoint. However, the number responding for the pre Click It or

Ticket Survey was relatively small, 60 for the pre interview and 176 for the post interview. This

means that more than one out of every five respondents was stopped in a road block.. As can be

observed in Table 7 there was a huge increase the percentage of people who had heard of a

special effort to issue tickets to those who did not have their children restrained.

Table 7: PUBLIC DIRECT EXPERIENCE OF CLICK IT OR TICKET

Question % %
“Yes” “Yes”
Before After

In the past 30 days did you personally see any check points where police were 13 36
stopping motor vehicles to see if drivers and passengers were wearing seat belts n=500 n=514

Were you personally stopped by police at a seat belt checkpoint? 46 70

n=60 n=176

In the past 30 days, have you seen or heard of any special efforts by police to ticket 26 87
drivers in your community if children in their vehicles are not wearing seat belt or in n=500 514
car seats?

Although there was only a slight increase between the pre and post interviews in the

percentages of persons who had heard some type of media message about seat belt use in the past

30 days, there was a huge increase, 15% to 70%, between the pre and post telephone interviews.

Likewise, there was a huge decrease, 79% to 28%, in the percentage of those who thought that the

number of media messages had remained the same. Persons who thought that seat belt

enforcement was very important increased slightly from 62% in the pre interview to 69% in the

post interview. The number of Mississippians who think that seat belt enforcement is at least

fairly important was very high in both interviews, (79, pre and 82, post). Less than 20% of

Mississippians think that seat belt use should not be enforced.

 16

TABLE 8: PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE INCREASE OF MEDIA AND

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IN CLICK IT OR TICKET PROGRAM

Question % %
before After

Now I would like to ask you a few questions about educational or other types of 79 87
activities. In the past 30 days have you seen or heard any messages that encourage people n=500 n=514
to wear their seat belts. This could be public service announcements on TV, messages on
the radio, signs on the road news stories, or something else

Would you say that the number of messages you have seen or heard in the past 30 n=393 446
days is

(a) More than usual. 15 70

(b) Fewer than usual 5 1

(c) About the Same 79 28

Are the any other type of activity that you have seen or heard about in the past 30 17 12
days? n=500 514

Thinking about everything you have heard, how important do you think it is for n=500 n=514
Mississippi to enforce seat belt laws for adults more strictly?

(a) Very important 62 69

(b) Fairly important 17 13

(c) Just somewhat important 11 12

(d) Not that important 9 5

The graphic on the following page provides summary information on the key findings of

the Click It or Ticket Telephone Survey

TELEPHONE SURVEYS SUMMARY

 Social Science Research Center

Click It or Ticket Mississippi State University

2001
Telephone Survey Summary
• Those who reported using their shoulder and lap belt use 100 percent of
the time increased from 63%to 74%
• 97%of respondents know seat belt usage is a MS LAW
• The perception that Mississippi has a primary law increased from 40%in
the pre-telephone survey to 58%in the post survey.
• The belief that Mississippi should have a primary law increased from
58%in the pre -survey to 68%of respondents law in the post survey.
• 15%of respondents in the pre-survey strongly agreed that more seat belt
tickets were being written in their community while 42%in the post
survey strongly agreed that more tickets were being written in the their
community.
• Awareness of Click It or Ticket increased from 12%in the pre-survey to
79%in the post telephone survey.
 Social Science Research Center

Click It or Ticket Mississippi State University

2001

Driver’s License
Surveys
 DRIVERS LICENSE SURVEYS

Introduction

The following series of surveys were implemented at locations where drivers’ licenses are

obtained or renewed. The surveys were conducted to provide further measures of the

effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of the media and law enforcement interventions. Much of

the same information collected on the telephone surveys, was also collected on the Driver’s

License Survey. While the Telephone Surveys were collected before and after the completion of

the campaign, the Driver’s License Surveys were collected four times, before, during and after all

interventions. They were collected during the same time periods that the Mini Observational

Surveys were done. (Mini Surveys will be discussed in the next section.) The Driver’s License

Survey thus provided another validation of the information gathered in the telephone surveys and

the corresponding Mini Observational Surveys.

Driver’s License Surveys were conducted at seven Mississippi Highway Patrol

substations, located in the seven of the eight counties in which the Mini Surveys were conducted.

Survey counties included Bolivar, Desoto, Harrison, Hinds, Lauderdale, Lee, and Lowndes.

Surveys were administered to persons who came to obtain a driver’s license or to renew their

driver’s license. The only Mini Survey county where the surveys were not conducted was in

Lamar County, due to the fact that there were no licensing substations in Lamar County.

Personnel at the substations were trained to administer questionnaires by the Preusser

Research Group Inc., Trumbull, Connecticut, in cooperation with the Mississippi Office of

Highway Safety and the Mississippi Highway Patrol. Persons applying for or renewing their

licenses at these selected Highway Patrol Substations were administered questionnaires prior to

and immediately following the project interventions, i.e., the earned media week, the paid media

week, and after the law enforcement blitz. The surveys were designed and tabulated by the

Preusser Research Group.

Drivers’ License Surveys

 20

Summary Information on the overall results of the Driver’s license surveys is presented in

Table 9. As can be observed, increases of various magnitudes occurred in 14 of 19 categories.

Table 9: Mississippi Driver’s License Office Survey Results by Wave *

Question Baseline 1st Earned Paid Media Week Pre Post Law
(n-950) Media Week Law Enforcement Enforcement
% ( n=440) (n=440) (n=783)
% % %

Reported “Always” uses a seat belt. 61.3 61.1 62.0 67.3

Reported “Always a high-likelihood of 25.5 24.1 30.2 31.8

a seat belt ticket for non use.

Reported strictness of State Police as 32.4 28.9 34.1 38.6

“Very”

Reported strictness of Local Police as 22.2 22.3 21.4 27.6

“Very”

Reported ever receiving a seat belt 8.5 6.4 6.8 6.6

ticket

Reported having read about seat belt 31.6 35.0 38.9 65.9
checkpoints in the past month

Reported going through a seat belt 21.9 24.5 25.9 30.9

checkpoint in the past month.

Reported recently read/seen/heard seat 69.5 70.5 81.8 92.7

belt message

Read about seat belt in the paper 24.4 23.4 26.8 37.7

Heard about seat belts on the radio 19.1 23.2 24.1 37.5

Saw seat belt message on TV 37.3 35.2 51.8 64.9

Saw seat belt message on poster 11.7 10.7 10.0 8.4

Read about seat belts in a brochure 2.5 3.9 3.6 2.0

Heard about seat belts at a check 6.5 7.3 6.1 9.3

point

Heard about seat belts by other 9.7 6.2 8.4 6.3

means

Heard of Click It Or Ticket Program 4.1 6.4 31.4 64.2

Heard of No Excuses Buckle Up 17.1 17.3 17.7 12.3

Program

Heard of Buckle Up Mississippi 68.6 65.7 57.4 42.9

Program

Heard of Operation Stay alive Program 8.5 8.2 10.9 8.6

*Source Preusser Research Group, Inc. 7/23/01.

The responses of persons filling out the Drivers’ License Surveys are remarkably similar

to the responses of persons interviewed in the Telephone Surveys. Persons reporting that they
 21

“always used” their seatbelt increased slightly after the post law enforcement intervention, but

showed little increase following the earned media and paid media phases. The information

displayed in Chart Two also depicts the interrelationship between the percentage of respondents

who report “always” wearing their seat belts and their perception of the likelihood of getting a

ticket and the reality of getting a ticket for failure to wear a seat belt. Those reporting “always”

using their seat belts rose slightly during the campaign, as did their expectation of getting a ticket.

However, the number of respondents actually getting a ticket went down slightly.

CHART TWO DRIVER’S LICENSE SURVEYS, PERCENTAGE OF PERSONS

“ALWAYS” USE THEIR SEAT BELTS, FEEL THAT THEY ARE
LIKELY TO GET A TICKET, AND ACTUALLY GETTING A
TICKET

The perception of police strictness rose slightly during the campaign. However, there

Seat Belt Usage

Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Driver’s License Survey

80.0% 67.3%
61.3% 61.1% 62.0%
60.0%

40.0% 30.2% 31.8%

25.5% 24.1%
20.0% 8.5% 6.4% 6.8% 6.6%

0.0%
Baseline 1st Earned Paid Media Enforcement
Media Week Week

Always Uses Seat Belt Likely to get ticket for nonuse

Ever received ticket for nonuse

Source: Preusser Research Group, Inc.

doesn’t appear to be any strong sense of police strictness in enforcing seat belt laws among the
 22

respondents. The respondents did feel that the Highway Patrol was much stricter than Local

Police. Information on this question is presented in Chart Three.

CHART THREE PERCEIVED POLICE STRICTNESS BY WAVE

In Chart Four a graphic representation is presented of respondents (a) hearing of

checkpoints and (b) actually going through checkpoints. The number of persons hearing about

Police Strictness
Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Driver’s License Survey

60.0%

38.6%
40.0% 32.4% 34.1%
28.9%

20.0% 27.6%
22.2% 22.3% 21.4%

0.0%
Baseline Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement
Week Week Week

State Police Very Strict Local Police Very Strict

Source: Preusser Research Group, Inc.

checkpoints increased dramatically during the various waves of the project. In the baseline 31.6%

reported hearing of checkpoints. This figure increased dramatically to 65.9% after the

enforcement phase. Likewise, the most dramatic rise came after the law enforcement intervention.

While the increase in the percentage of those who actually went through a checkpoint was not as

dramatic, it was substantial.

 23

CHART FOUR: AWARENESS AND EXPERIENCE OF POLICE CHECKPOINTS

Seat Belt Checkpoints

Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Driver’s License Survey

80.0% 65.9%

60.0%
38.9%
31.6% 35.0%
40.0%

20.0% 30.9%
24.6% 25.9%
21.6%
0.0%
Baseline Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement
Week Week Week

Heard about seat belt checkpoints in the last month

Gone through checkpoint in the past month

Source: Preusser Research Group, Inc.

There is a steady and progressive increase of public awareness of a special effort to

increase seat belt use. In the questionnaire taken after the law enforcement phase, an incredible

percentage (92.7%) of the respondents had heard of special efforts to increase seat belt use. There

was also a significant increase after the paid media phase. When asked where they had heard, read

or seen these messages, respondents singled out TV, both after the paid media phase, and also the

post law enforcement phase. Immediately following the earned media phase a majority of

respondents (51.8%) reported seeing the message on TV. This percentage increased sharply again

after the post law enforcement phase to 64.9%. No other media forms were nearly as effective. The

next highest types of media in reaching the public were the radio and news papers. More than

37% of the respondents had heard of the program in the post enforcement phase through

newspaper and the radio. A slight increase in knowledge occurred as the result of checkpoints.

Brochures and posters provided no increased knowledge. A summary of these findings is presented
 24

in the following Table 10.

TABLE 10: TYPES OF MEDIA WHERE PUBLIC MADE AWARE OF EFFORTS TO

INCREASE SEAT BELT USE

Baseline 1st Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement

(n=950) Week Week post
% (n=440) pre-enforcement (n=783)
% (n=440) %
%

Reported as recently having 69.5 70.5 71.8 92.7

seen/heard seat belt message

Read in the newspaper 24.4 23.4 26.8 37.7

Heard on radio 19.1 23.2 24.1 37.5

Saw messages on TV 37.3 35.2 51.8 64.9

Saw on Poster 11.7 10.7 10.0 8.4

Read in Brochure 2.5 3.9 3.6 2.0

Heard at checkpoints 6.5 7.3 6.1 9.3

Other means 9.7 6.2 8.4 6.3

Chart Six provides a graphic visualization of the above table. It can readily be seen that

television is the media from which respondents became aware of the Click It or Ticket campaign.

By the end of enforcement week 65% of the respondents reported that they heard of the campaign

on TV. Newspapers and radio followed, but far behind TV, as a source of message awareness.

About 38% of the respondents reported that they had heard or read about the campaign from these

two sources. Other types of media showed little evidence of effectiveness as a media tool.
 25

CHART FIVE: AWARENESS BY MEDIA OF EFFORTS TO INCREASE

SEAT BELT USAGE

Awareness by Media
Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Driver’s License Survey

N ew sp ap er R ad io T elevisio n
Recently heard P o ster B ro ch u re C h eckp o in t

70.0%
about seat belts by: Oth er m ean s

64.9%
60.0%
51.8%
50.0%

37.3% 37.5%
40.0% 35.2%
37.7%
26.8%
30.0% 23.2%
24.4%
24.1%
20.0% 19.6% 23.4%

10.0%

0.0%
B aselin e E arn ed Med ia W eek P aid Med ia W eek E n fo rcem en t W eek

Source: Preusser Research Group, Inc.

 26

A sharp increase in the awareness of respondents of the Drivers’ License Survey of the

Click It or Ticket Program was reported. Once again the sharpest increases occurred after the paid

media effort and after the law enforcement intervention. Awareness of the campaign increased

from a low of 4.1% to more than 64% after the conclusion of the intensive law enforcement effort

over the Memorial Day weekend. This sharp increase in awareness is very similar to the increase

reported in the before and after Telephone Surveys as the awareness of the Campaign rose from

13% in the baseline survey to 62% in the post project survey See Chart Six below.

CHART SIX: PERCENTAGE REPORTING HEARING ABOUT CLICK IT OR TICKET

Social Science Research Center

Click It or Ticket Awareness Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Driver’s License Survey

Percentage Reporting Awareness of the

Click It or Ticket Program
70.0% 64.2%
60.0%
50.0%
31.4%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0% 4.1% 6.4%
10.0%
0.0%

Baseline 1st Earned Paid Media Enforcement

(N = 950) (N = 783)
Media Week Week
(N = 440) (N = 440)

Source: Preusser Research Group, Inc.

 27

The remainder of this section will be devoted to comparing the above reported variables by

the subgroups, gender, race, age, miles driven, and type of vehicle driven. Those who reported

“always” wearing a seat belt increased slightly from baseline to the post law enforcement phase in

all categories, i.e., gender, race, age miles driven and type of vehicle driven (except for persons

driving vans, pickup trucks and persons who drove 10,000-15,000 miles). Information on this

variable is presented in Table 11 below.

TABLE 11 CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONS WHO “ALWAYS” WEARS A SEAT

BELT*

Question Baseline 1st Earned Paid Media Week Pre Post Law
(n=950) Media Week Law Enforcement Enforcement
% ( n=440) (n=440) (n=783)
% % %

Reported “Always” uses a seat 61.3 61.1 62.0 67.3

belt.

Male 54.6 53.8 50.9 60.4

Female 68.0 69.5 72.4 74.0

White 62.1 62.2 60.3 66.7

Non-White 59.7 57.98 64.1 68.7

Age <26 48.9 49.5 54.7 58.4

Age 26-49 64.5 60.2 61.3 68.8

Ages 50+ 76.6 75.8 75.0 77.7

Miles <10,000 63.8 65.8 65.9 71.6

Miles 10,000-15,000 67.0 55.2 51.9 63.5

Miles> 15,000 53.6 58.8 61.9 63.5

Passenger Car 64.1 65.3 67.8 72.9

Pick Up 54.0 43.6 46.4 48.3

SUV 56.3 69.8 67.9 65.7

Van 77.6 73.3 69.6 69.2

*Source Preusser Research Group, Inc. 7/23/01

Similarly, persons reporting that there was “always” a likelihood of receiving a ticket

increased slightly for all the various subgroups of gender, race, various age groups, miles driven

C l i c k I t o r T i c k e t A w a r e n e s s S o c i a M l S i s c s i i e s n s c i p e p R i S e t s a e t e a r U c h n i C v e e r n s t i e t y r
 28

and type of vehicle driven (except for those reporting driving pickup trucks.) See Table 12 below.

Table 12: REPORTED ALWAYS A LIKELIHOOD OF A SEAT BELT TICKET FOR

NON USE *

Question Baseline 1st Earned Paid Media Week Post Law

(n-950) Media Week Pre Law Enforcement Enforcement
% ( n=440) (n=440) (n=783)
% % %

Reported “Always” a likelihood of a 25.5 24.1 30.2 31.8

seat belt ticket for non use

Male 21.9 23.6 22.2 26.7

Female 29.0 24.9 37.7 37.9

White 21.3 22.3 24.9 27.4

Non-White 33.6 26.4 39.7 41.8

Age <26 18.4 22.4 28.8 28.6

Age 26-49 27.0 21.6 28.3 32.3

Ages 50+ 33.3 31.6 37.6 34.9

Miles <10,000 26.1 29.1 37.9 40.1

Miles 10,000-15,000 21.3 19.6 28.4 27.1

Miles> 15,000 22.0 20.3 18.7 23.0

Passenger Car 27.6 26.0 34.3 34.5

Pick Up 20.7 18.8 25.9 23.4

SUV 21.0 25.6 17.9 32.4

Van 32.7 20.0 34.8 38.5

*Source Preusser Research Group, Inc. 7/23/0

The chart below graphically demonstrates that there was a sharp increase in awareness of

“Click It Or Ticket after the paid media week and another sharp increase after the enforcement

week. This occurred for both males and females. The level of awareness of the campaign by the

public is quite remarkable. More than 64% of all the respondents reported hearing of the “Click It

Or Ticket Campaign.”
 29

CHART SEVEN: AWARENESS OF CLICK IT OR TICKET CAMPAIGN BY GENDER

Awareness by Gender
Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Driver’s License Survey

Heard of Click It or Ticket Program?

80.0%
64.3%
60.0%
64.1%

40.0% 33.8%

20.0% 7.0% 28.8%

6.6%
On
0.0% 2.6% 6.0%
Baseline Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement e of
Week Week Week the
Male Female key
Source: Preusser Research Group, Inc.
me

asures of evaluation is the ability to reach all groups of people. For example, a lot care was taken

to include the African American communities in of planning and discussion of the project. It was

important that they they understood that the campaign was about saving lives not racial profiling

etc. The next chart demonstrates the awareness of the “Click It or Ticket Campaign” for different

racial groups. Both groups, white and non white showed a high awareness of the program. It is
 30

Both groups rose sharply in their awareness. While non whites were somewhat less likely to report

awareness of the Campaign, the fact that 58% were aware othecampaign is quite substantial.

CHART EIGHT: AWARENESS OF CLICK IT OR TICKET BY RACE

Awareness by Race
Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Driver’s License Survey

Heard of Click It or Ticket Program?

80.0%
67.1%

60.0%
58.4%
40.0% 36.0%

20.0% 8.6% 25.0%

4.3%
0.0% 3.8% 5.4%
Baseline Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement
Week Week Week

White Non White

Source: Preusser Research Group, Inc.

The comprehensiveness and the effectiveness of the overall campaign not only extends to

gender and racial groups, but also to all age groups, as the following chart vividly demonstrates.

All age groups were almost equal in level of awareness.

 31

CHART 10: AWARENESS OF CLICK IT OR TICKET BY AGE

Awareness by Age
Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Driver’s License Survey

Heard of Click It or Ticket Program?

80.0%
66.9%
63.9%
60.0%
63.5%
36.3%
40.0%
36.2%

20.0% 9.3% 21.6%

6.1%
3.9% 3.7%
0.0% 1.2% 2.1%
Baseline 1st Earned Paid Media Enforcement
Media Week Week

Less Than 26 26-49 50 or older

Source: Preusser Research Group, Inc.

In Table 13 a summary of information on the level of awareness of the “Click It Or Ticket

Campaign” by respondents in all on all categories that were measured. In addition to gender, race,

age, miles driven and types of vehicles are remarkably consistent in demonstrating the high level

of effectiveness the message had on all types of groups. Variables such as miles driven and type of

vehicle show a similar sharp rise in awareness after the paid media and enforcement interventions.

More than 60% of all groups measured had heard or read about the program by the end of the

enforcement period.
 32

Table 13: Respondents Reporting that they had heard of “Click It Or It”

Baseline 1st Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement

n=950 n=440 n=440 n=783
% % % %
Respondents reporting that
they had heard of Click it
or Ticket
Total 4.1 6.4 31.4 64.2
Male 6.6 5.0 28.8 64.3
Female 2.6 7.0 33.8 64.1
White 4.3 5.4 35.0 67.1
Nonwhite 3.8 8.6 25.0 58.4
Age <26 6.1 3.7 21.6 63.9
Ages 26 to 49 3.9 9.3 36.3 63.5
Ages 50+ 1.2 2.1 35.2 66.3
Miles <10,001 per year 4.0 2.0 28.5 63.1
Miles 10,001 to 15,000 3.0 10.3 38.3 67.1
Miles> 15,000 4.9 10.1 33.1 64.3
Passenger Car 3.6 5.8 27.4 64.7
Pick Up 6.1 5.0 34.8 63.0
SUV 3.4 7.0 37.5 69.4
Van 4.1 10.0 52.2 61.5

*Source Preusser Research Group, Inc. 7/23/0

The next chart summarizes the key findings of the Driver’s License Survey concerning the

level of awareness people had before during and after Click It or Ticket Campaign. These seven

locations included all the mini-sites except Lamar County.

 33

Social Science Research Center

Click It or Ticket Mississippi State University

2001
Driver’s License Survey Summary
• Percentage reporting “always” wearing seat belt increased 6%
• Only 39%perceived the State Police as “Very Strict” &28%of
respondents perceived Local Police as “Very Strict” in seat belt
enforcement
• Seat belt message awareness increased from23%in the baseline to 93%
in the enforcement period
• Awareness of Click It or Ticket Programincreased 60%from 4%
(Baseline) to 64%(Enforcement)
• 65%of the respondents heard about Click It or Ticket on TV
• The closet other media types to TVin hearing Click It message by
respondents were radio and newspapers at 38%each.
• Men (64%), women (64%), white (67%) Non-white (58%) and persons of all
age groups (range from64%to 67%) were very comparable in their
awareness of Click It or Ticket
 Social Science Research Center

Click It or Ticket Mississippi State University

2001

Mini
Surveys
 MINI SURVEYS

Introduction

Each year the State of Mississippi is required to conduct a scientifically designed. “Seat

Belt/Motorcycle Helmet Survey” approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration. The sampling methodology will be more fully described in the next section of this

report. The sample is drawn from 16 Mississippi counties including a total of 409 sites at which

seat belt observations take place. Two observers are present at every site; one observer-counts pick

up trucks while the other observer counts all other passenger type vehicles, i.e., sedans, suv’s, vans

etc. In 2001 two full surveys were conducted in order to more fully evaluate the “Click It or

Ticket” Campaign. One survey was conducted prior to the campaign and the other survey was

conducted after the completion of the project.

Separate, but within the framework of the larger surveys, four Mini Observational Surveys

were conducted. The Mini Surveys consisted of eight representative sitesin eight of the sixteen

sample counties. Therefore, the baseline Mini Survey, consisted of 64 total sites, eight sites drawn

each of the representative eight counties. The first Mini Survey was conducted as a part of the

statewide baseline survey. The mini sites for the baseline survey were counted at the regularly

scheduled time for the regular seat belt survey, except additional data was gathered at the mini

sites. This additional data included recording information on gender and race. Information at the

mini sites thus included passenger vehicles, pickup trucks, gender and race.

Additionally, three other Mini Surveys, including only the 64 sites in eight counties, were

collected after the earned media campaign, after the paid media campaign and immediately after

the enforcement phase. Finally, another full statewide survey was conducted several weeks after

the completion of the campaign. This survey included the mini survey sites but no data was

collected on gender and race. This section of the report deals with results of the Mini Surveys. The
 36

data of the Mini Surveys were collected by the Social Science Research Center and coded by

Preusser Group.

In Chart 11 information is presented on the observed seat belt usage by wave across the

duration of the campaign. There is a gain from 50.6% to 54.8% of people using seat belts in the

baseline survey, to the first earned media intervention. Belt use remains much the same through

the paid media week, but rose more than 10 percentage points, from 54.7% after the paid media

week to 64.8% after the enforcement week. Overall, using only the Mini Survey sites, seat belt use

increased by more than 28%. Other comparisons were conducted to see how the mini sites in the

baseline and post surveys compared to the other sites the in the counties with mini sites, as well as

sites in counties in which were no mini sites. Seat belt usage in mini vs. non mini sites was found

to be very similar. Baseline non mini sites were found to have a 53.5% rate of use as compared to

51.4% in the mini sites. In the post survey the mini sites had a 65.8% use vs. a 66.5% belt use rate

in the remaining sample.

CHART ELEVEN: SEAT BELT USE BY WAVES

Seat Belt Use by Wave

Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Mini Surveys

80.0%
64.8%

54.8% 54.7%
60.0%
50.6%

49.4%
40.0% 45.2% 45.3%
35.2%
20.0%
Baseline Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement
Week Week Week

Percent Using Percent Not Using

 37

One of the key evaluation criteria was to discover if the intervention applied to different

groups of people. For example, did seat belt usage increases apply to other categories such as

gender, race, passenger vehicles and pick up trucks? The next series of charts illustrate the

information collected for these categories. Firstly, it can be seen in Chart Twelve that there were

increases for both males and females following each of the interventions. The most dramatic

increase in seat belt usage takes place after the law enforcement phase. Seat belt use for females

rose from 60% in the baseline survey to almost 74% after the enforcement phase. While the

percentage increase for males and females is about the same, the amount of improvement in belt

use for males is somewhat higher. Males improved their seat belt use more than females, 34% as

compared to 23% by females.

CHART TWELVE: BELT USE BY WAVE BY GENDER

Belt Use by Wave by Gender

Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Mini Surveys

80.0% 73.6%

63.8% 64.3%
59.6%
60.0%
58.6%

40.0% 47.8% 47.9%

43.6%

20.0%
Baseline Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement
Week Week Week

Female Male
 38

In Chart Thirteen information comparing seat belt usage following the various

interventions is presented by race. Once again a sharp increase is observed for both whites and non

whites across the intervention waves, particularly following the law enforcement phase. While seat

belt usage was not as high for non whites, nonwhite seat belt usage increased much more than

whites (19% for non whites to as compared to11.8%) for whites. This represents a 48%

improvement in seat belt use by non whites as compared to 26.9% improvement for whites.

Improvement in seat belt use for both groups is excellent.

CHART THIRTEEN: BELT USE BY WAVE BY RACE

Belt Use by Wave by Race

Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Mini Surveys

80.0%
66.9%
58.6% 58.3%
60.0% 55.1%

58.9%

40.0% 45.0% 45.6%

39.9%

20.0%
Baseline Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement
Week Week Week

White Non White

In

Chart Fourteen comparisons are presented on the seat belt usage by men and women of both races,

separately. Belt usage increased sharply for white and non white men and women. The greatest

percentage increases took place among non whites in both males and females. Non white males
 39

increased belt usage 20% and non white females by 19%. This represents an improvement in seat

belt usage of 63% in non white males, and a 37% improvement in non white females.

Improvement in seat belt use by white males and females was also quite impressive. Seat belt

usage improved in white males by 26% and 18% in white females. It should not go unnoticed that

females of both races show a considerably higher rate of seat belt usage than males.

CHART 14: BELT USE BY WAVE BY GENDER AND BY RACE

Social Science Research Center

Belt Use by Wave by Gender and Race Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Mini Surveys

W hite Male W hite Female

Non W hite Male Non W hite Female

80.0% 75.8%
67.9%

60.8%
60.0%
52.2%

40.0%

20.0%
B aseline Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement
Week Week Week

The next comparison to be addressed is whether persons riding in cars and pickup trucks

were affected by the “Click It or Ticket “ campaign. The next Chart provides a visual presentation

of these comparisons. Once again the project interventions appear to very effectively increase the
 40

use of seat belts by both passenger car and pick up truck riders. The percentage of persons wearing

their seats belt increased significantly for persons in cars by 14% and in pickup trucks by 16%.

This represents a 23% improvement in seat belt use for persons riding in cars and 36% for persons

riding in pickup trucks.

H
Belt Use by Wave by Vehicle Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Mini Surveys A

80.0% T
69.0%
FI
59.0% 58.0%
56.0%
60.0% F
60.0%
T
40.0% 49.0% 50.0%
44.0% E

E
20.0%
N:
Baseline Earned Media Paid Media Enforcement
Week Week Week B

Car Pick Up Truck E

LT USE BY WAVE BY VEHICLE

 41

Chart Sixteen provides a comparison of the seat belt use of drivers and passenger across the

various project waves. As can be observed, there were significant increases in observable belt use

by both drivers and passengers. Drivers and riders are very comparable in belt use through the

various project interventions. Driver seat belt use increased by 29%, while passenger seat belt use

increased by 34%. These are huge increases in both groups.

CHART SIXTEEN: BELT USE BY DRIVER AND PASSENGER

 42

Another question to be addressed is the whether the effect on seat belt use applies on all

Belt Use by Wave by Driver & Social Science Research Center

Mississippi State University

Passenger
2001 MS Click It or Ticket Mini Surveys

80.0%

66.2%

60.0% 54.9% 54.5% 64.3%

51.4%
54.6% 54.4%
47.9%
40.0%
Baseline Earned Media Paid Media Enforcem ent
W eek W eek W eek

Drive r Passe nger

types of roads. As in all other types comparisons used in these analyses, seat belt use rose

significantly on all categories of roads. As expected, roads with the lowest baseline uses had the

highest increases in seat belt use. Seat belt use rose by 56% on urban local roads, by 44% on rural

local roads, by 31% on urban interstates, 23% on rural major roads and urban major roads, and by

15% on rural interstates. This finding is graphically illustrated in Chart Seventeen

 43

CHART SEVENTEEN: BELT USE BY WAVE BY ROAD TYPE

Belt Use by Wave by Road

Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Mini Surveys

Rural Interstate Rural Major Road Rural Local Road

Urban Interstate Urban Major Road Urban Local Road

80.0% 77.1%
72.9%
64.7%
60.0% 59.5%
58.6%
57.7%
40.0%

20.0%
Baselin e Earn ed Media Paid Media En forcemen t
Week Week Week

A summary of the findings of the Mini Surveys is presented in the summary chart on the

next page.
 44

Click It or Ticket
Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001
Mini Survey Summary
• For some unexplained reason, Lee county showed decreases in the mini survey waves
(43% to 36%) through the enforcement phase but increased from baseline (43%) to
Post Survey in mini sites (52%)
• Seat belt use increased in both cars (56% to 69%) and pick up trucks (44% to 60%)
• Seat belt use increased on all types of roads in mini survey sites. Rural Interstates (67%
to 77%), Urban Interstates (56% to 73%), Rural Major Roads (53% to 65%), Urban Major
Roads (49% to 60%), Urban Local Roads (37% to 58%), Rural Local Roads (41% to
59%).
• Seat belt use increased for whites (55% to 67%) and non whites (40% to 59%).
• Seat belt use increased for males (44% to 59%) and females (60% to 74%)
• White females (77%) had the highest seat belt use
• Non whites males (52%) had the lowest use.
• White (67% to 77%) and non white (49% to 68%) females had a higher percentage of
use than either white (48% to 61%) or non white (32% to 52%) males
• Seat belt use increased for both drivers (51% to 66%) and passengers (48% to 64%) in
the mini- survey sites
• Highest use of seat belts was following the enforcement wave (65%)
 Social Science Research Center

Click It or Ticket Mississippi State University

2001

Baseline & Follow-Up

Surveys
 SEAT BELT/MOTORCYCLE HELMET SURVEY

Introduction

Two full Seat Belt/Motorcycle Helmet Surveys were conducted in the Spring of 2001. The

first survey was conducted prior to the implementation of the Click It Or Ticket Project and the

second survey was conducted after the implementation of the project. The survey sampling plan

used for the surveys was developed in accordance with NHTSA guidelines and formally approved

by NHTSA. The original plan was modified once in order to include pickup trucks in the sample.

The surveys were conducted by the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University

for the Mississippi Office of Highway Safety.

The Seat belt and motorcycle survey for Mississippi uses a multistage area probability

approach. In the first stage, an appropriate number of sampling units are randomly selected. The

primary sampling unit for the Mississippi survey is the county. The least populated counties,

approximately 15% of the State’s population, are excluded from the sampling process. The survey

was conducted in 16 Mississippi Counties containing approximately 46% of the State’s population.

Summary of Sampling Methodology

I. Three counties were selected as certainty counties because of having populations much

larger than other Mississippi Counties. The certainty counties were Harrison, Hinds, and

Jackson.

II. Thirty-two of the least populated counties, whose combined population accounted for only

15% of the state’s population, were eliminated from sampling.

III. Sampling was done with replacement. In addition to the three certainty counties, 13 other

counties were chosen, thus the sample consists of 16 counties.

IV. The sample includes 409 forty-minute observation periods. The three certainty counties

were allotted 28 observation periods, while the remaining 13 counties were allotted 25
 47

observation periods each.

V. The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) provided floppy disks that included

information on which all road segments which Average Daily Travel (ADT) was equal to or

exceeded 500 miles. Through a random variable generated by the computer program

Statistical Program for the Social Sciences (SPSS), all road segments in each of the counties

were randomly selected.

VI. The roads were then sorted by county and functional road classification. The functional road

classifications of the road were re coded into six functional classes.

VII. Total Vehicle Miles Traveled per year (VMT) for each county were calculated by

multiplying ADT times road segment length. A similar statistic was calculated for each of

the functional road classes. This figure was divided by the total county VMT and then

multiplied by the number of observation time periods. For example, there are 3,860 road

segments in Hinds County with a VMT of 5,905,627.26. Functional road Class 1 had a

VMT of 640,676. The 640,676 was then divided by 5,905,627.26 equaling .1084857 which

was in turn multiplied by 28 or the number of observation periods allotted to Hinds County.

Thus 3.0375991, or three observation periods were allotted to Class 1 roads in Hinds

County, etc. The first six segments from road Class 1 in Hinds County were chosen for the

sample, were roads for each road class for the remaining five road classes.

VIII. All road segments were randomly selected and sorted by functional class. The number of

roads to be sampled in each class was selected in the order that they were chosen in the

random sampling process. For example, if Hinds County needed to sample three Class 1

roads, the first three Class 1 roads plus several back up selections were chosen. The TP

number or location designation was then sent to MDOT to be placed on maps and sent back

to Mississippi State.

IX. Sites for each county were then clustered according to geographical proximity.
 48

X. For each cluster and each site a day of the week was randomly chosen. All days of the week

were eligible for selection.

XI. Once a site was assigned a day of the week, observation times between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00

p.m. were randomly chosen in hourly increments. One hour for lunch was randomly chosen

from the hours from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

XII. Direction of observation was randomly assigned for all 409 sites using random assignment

procedure generated by SPSS.

XIII. Observers were instructed to observe from a site using the assigned direction for a period of

40 minutes. Interstate sites were surveyed on off ramps.

XIV. The sampling frame includes counting all passenger vehicles, sports utility vehicles, vans

and pickup trucks not exempted by state law. Two observers are used at each observation

site. One observer counts the driver and outside passengers on the front seat of passenger

cars, sport utility vehicles and vans. The other observer counts the driver and outside

passenger in pickup trucks.

Further details on the sampling methodology of the survey “DOCUMENTATION OF

MISSISSIPPI OBSERVATIONAL SURVEYS OF SEAT BELT AND MOTORCYCLE

HELMET USE” prepared by Dr. Stephen H. Richards Director, Transportation Center of the

University of Tennessee and Dr. Tommy Wright Adjunct professor of Statistics of the University

of Tennessee, and can be obtained from the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State

University, Box 5287 Mississippi State, MS 39662, or by calling Mr. Jim Landrum at 662-325-

7962.

Statewide Survey Results

The impact of the Click It or Ticket Campaign effected a huge change in seat belt usage in
 49

the State of Mississippi. As can be observed in the chart below, belt use improved by 26%. This

represents a 13 percent increase. The margin of error for both surveys at a 95% probability is less

than 4 percent.

CHART EIGHTEEN: SEAT BELT USAGE

Seat Belt Usage

Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Statewide Survey

Official Statewide Seat Belt Usages
Sites Surveyed = 409

B ase line
49 %
S urvey

Follow -U p
62%
Sur vey

Se
0% 10% 2 0% 3 0% 4 0% 5 0% 6 0% 7 0% 8 0%
at

belt usage improved across all areas of comparison. The following graphic demonstrates the

increased use in all counties of the survey. While the differences were varied, the belt use

increases were substantial.

The largest increases occurred in Desoto and Bolivar Counties. In Desoto County, which

borders Tennessee, near Memphis, seat belt usage increased by 29%. This translates to a huge 65%

improvement in seat belt use.

 50

The Mississippi Delta Counties present a big challenge in improving seat belt use. The

project had three Mississippi Delta Counties, Bolivar, Leflore and Yazoo. Seat belt use was

substantially increased in all three counties. Bolivar County had the second highest increase in seat

belt usage in the project counties. Seat belt usage in Bolivar County increased by 25%. This was

an improvement of 88 % in belt use. Bolivar County in the baseline survey had only a 28%

weighted rate of seat belt usage.

While the overall use of seat belts remains low in Delta Counties, the Click It Or Ticket

Campaign appears to have had a substantial impact. Seat Belt use improvements following the

campaign were 88% in Bolivar, 44% in Leflore County and 16 in Yazoo County. The effect

appears to have an impact across race and gender.

Perhaps an unexpected benefit of conducting the project in eight Southeastern States at the

same time occurred in counties bordering other states. For example, Desoto County, the county

showing the greatest increase in percentage of persons wearing seat belts, is for all practical

purposes a part of the Memphis Metropolitan Area. Tennessee was also the state showing the

highest increase in Seat Belt Use in the Southeastern region. Persons living in that geographic

region were probably bombarded with media and the law enforcement efforts occurring in both

Jackson County, which borders Alabama, raised the percentage of those wearing seat belt from

48.94 in the baseline survey to 63.61 in the post survey. This represents a 30 percent improvement

in seat belt use in Jackson County.

It is remarkable that increases in seat belt usage occurred in all sample Counties. See Chart

19 and Table 14 for a county by county breakdown in seat belt use.

CHART 19: INCREASE IN SEAT BELT USAGES BY COUNTY

 51

Increases in Usages
Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Statewide Survey

2%
Percentage Increases
Harrison
Yazoo 8% in Seat Belt Usages
9%
Lee from Baseline Survey to
Scott 9%
Lowndes 9% Follow-Up Survey
Madison 11 %
Hinds 13%
Leflore 13%
Jack son 1 5%
Lamar 1 5%
Simpson 16 %
W arren 17 %
Lauderdale 18%
Rankin 19%
Bolivar 25%
Desoto 29 %

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

The following table provides a county by county breakdown of seat belt use in the pre and

post surveys in person count and weighted count by County.

Table 14: County by Count Comparisons of Increases in Seat Belt Usage by Per Person
County and by Weighted Count
 52

County Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of

Persons Using Persons Using Persons Using Persons Using
Seat Belts in Seat Belt in Seat Belts in Seat Belt in
Baseline Survey Baseline Survey Follow-Up Follow-Up
% Weighted by Survey Survey
Lanes, Road % Weighted by
Segments etc. Lanes, Road
% Segments etc.
%
Bolivar 33.15 28.21 51.58 52.98
Desoto 46.84 44.30 77.37 72.99
Harrison 52.45 51.94 56.58 53.89
Hinds 55.57 51.80 69.46 64.26
Jackson 53.96 48.94 70.35 63.61
Lamar 59.64 52.27 69.27 67.12
Lauderdale 52.13 47.79 70.02 65.36
Lee 45.64 41.53 51.08 50.69
Leflore 31.35 28.78 45.62 41.53
Lowndes 57.77 54.63 67.61 63.83
Madison 59.72 56.88 70.49 68.15
Rankin 57.26 54.58 70.57 73.49
Scott 49.36 36.30 56.97 45.12
Simpson 55.77 47.63 71.29 63.98
Warren 63.47 57.67 76.90 74.45
Yazoo 59.21 48.92 68.13 56.65
Total 53.14 49.00 ± 3.32 66.36 61.61 ± 3.74

No matter what category is used for comparison, the result is the same. Such is the case

when pre and post belt use is compared by the type of road on which the observation took place.

Significant increases occurred on all categories of roads.

 53

CHART TWENTY: INCREASES IN USAGES BY ROAD TYPES

The final category of comparison is improvement in belt usage by type of vehicle. Persons

Increases in Usages
Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Statewide Survey

Percentage Increases in Seat Belt Usages from Baseline
Survey to Follow-Up Survey by Type of Road

R ural Inters tates 13%

R ural M ajor R oads 15%

R ural Lo cal R oa ds 13%

Urban Interstate s 12%

Urban Major R oads 9%

Urban Local R oads 15%

0% 5% 10% 15% 2 0%

riding in cars and pickup trucks increased their seat belt usage dramatically from the baseline

survey to the follow-up survey. Persons riding in cars increased from 11% baseline to 65% in the

follow-up survey. While it is quite evident that persons riding in pickup trucks are far less likely to

use a seat belt; they also showed a significant increase between surveys. Pickup truck riders’ seat

belt use increased 14% from baseline to follow-up. Seat belt usage in pickup trucks belt improved

by a very large 34%. Similarly, car belt use increased 11 percentage points which represents and

improvement in belt usage in cars improved of 21%. Overall belt usage, for cars and trucks
 54

combined, from baseline to follow-up, increased by 13%. This is improvement of overall belt

usage of almost 27%

CHART TWENTY-ONE: PERCENTAGES AND INCREASES FROM BASELINE TO

FOLLOW-UP

Percentages & Increases

Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University

2001 MS Click It or Ticket Statewide Survey

Follow-Up Survey Percentages and Percentage Increases in
Seat Belt Usages from Baseline Survey to Follow-Up Survey
by Type of Vehicle

Cars at F ollow-Up 65%

Ca rs Inc re as e from
B ase lin e
11%

Pick up Truc ks a t
Follo w-Up
53%

Picku p Truck s
In creas e from 14%
Ba se line

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

 55

CLICK IT OR TICKET Social Science Research Center

Mississippi State University

2001
Before and After Statewide Surveys
• Official statewide seat belt use in baseline survey was 49% ± 3.32.
• Official statewide seat belt use in post survey was 62% ± 3.74.
• All survey counties increased in belt use in the post project survey, both in per
person observations and in the weighted percentage.
• Highest increases occurred in Desoto (29%), Bolivar (25%), Rankin (19%),
Lauderdale (18%), Warren (17%), Simpson (16%), Lamar (15%), Jackson (15%),
Leflore (13%), Hinds (13%), and Madison (11%).
• Lowest increases occurred in Harrison (2%), Yazoo (8%), Scott (9%), and Lee
(9%), and Lowndes (9%) .
• Seat belt use increased on all types of roads : Rural Interstates (13%), Rural
Major Roads(15%), Rural Local Roads (13%), Urban Interstates (12%), Urban
Major Roads (9%), Urban Local Roads ( 15%).
• Seat belt use increased in both cars (11%), and pickup trucks by (14%).
• Seat belt use in cars is 65%, and in trucks 53%.
 56

Motorcycle Helmet Survey

Introduction

The Final segment to be discussed concerns the Motorcycle Helmet Use in Mississippi. As a

part of the Seat Belt Survey, Motorcycle Helmets are also counted. Mississippi is fortunate to have

an excellent Motorcycle Helmet law. All motorcycle riders must wear helmets or receive a ticket.

Motorcycle Helmet use is over 99 percent in Mississippi. Thus, there is little room for

improvement in helmet use.

Motorcycle Helmet Usage Rates for 2001

In the baseline sample only 3 persons out of 572 observed motorcycle riders were not

wearing a helmet. Helmet Use was 99.81 (+/-) .2583.

Helmet use in the post survey was 99.87 (+/-) .26384. Only one person out of 309

observations was not wearing a helmet.

 57

SUMMARY OF CLICK IT OR TICKET CAMPAIGN

RESULTS

• Reported seat belt use increased significantly from baseline to post

Telephone and Drivers License Surveys.

• Awareness of seat belt issues increased significantly from baseline to

post Telephone and Drivers’ License surveys.

• Awareness of the “Click It or Ticket Campaign increased from 12% in

the baseline Survey to79 % in the Post Telephone Survey.

• Awareness of the Click It or Ticket Campaign increased from 4% to 65%

from baseline to post Drivers’ License Surveys.

• Media and Law enforcement efforts of the campaign were found to be

effective with all racial, gender, age and income groups.

• Media and Law enforcement efforts were effective no matter what type
of vehicle was driven, whether driver or passenger, regardless of the
number of miles driven, or type of road.

• Television was by far the most effective media tool used in the campaign.

• The greatest increases for almost all measures evaluated came after the
Law Enforcement intervention followed by the paid media campaign.

• Seat Belt use improved by 26% from baseline to the post survey.

• Seat Belt use improved for riders in all counties, on all types of road, in
all types of vehicles studied.