Safety belt wearing among taxi drivers and passengers in Hefei city

Objective To investigate the situation of safety belt wearing among taxi drivers and passengers in Hefei city of Anhui province.Methods Five observation points were selected on the main roads and minor roads,respectively.Safety belt wearing among taxi drivers and front seat passengers were observed from 7:00 to 19:00 in two days(one working day and one weekend)at each observation point.Fifty vehicle-tmie swith passengers in the front seat were observed during each observation hour,with a total of 12 000 vehicle-times.Results The rates of wearing safety belt properly,improperly,and non wearing of safety belt were 44.2%,3.4%,52.4% for the taxi drivers,respectively;while the rates of wearing safety belt properly,and non wearing of safety belt were 0.5% and 99.5% for the front seat passengers.The rates of wearing safety belt properly for drivers were higher in working days than in weekend,showed an increase-decrease-increase-decrease tendency from 7:00 to 19:00,with peaks at 10:00 to11:00,16:00 to 17:00,and a trough at 13:00.There was no significant difference between the rates on main roads and on minor roads.However,the rate was higher for female drivers than male drivers.Conclusion The rate of wearing safety belt properly was relatively low among taxi drivers and passengers in Hefei city.Monitoring and management of city traffic should be reinforced according to the time variation regularity of safety belt wearing among taxi drivers and it is also very important to take intervention on front seat belt wearing.