Availability and Request for Comment on Draft Report to Congress on the Benefits of Safety Belts and Motorcycle Helmets

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. 95-21, Notice No. 01]

Availability and Request for Comment on Draft Report to Congress

on the Benefits of Safety Belts and Motorcycle Helmets

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment on draft report

to Congress on the benefits of safety belts and motorcycle helmets

required by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of

1991.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of the draft of the

report to Congress on the benefits of safety belts and motorcycle

helmets generated from the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES)

Project. The Report was mandated by Section 1031(b) of the Intermodal

Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). As required in

the ISTEA, the agency seeks comments on the draft report. The comments

will be evaluated and incorporated, as appropriate, into the final

report which will be provided to the Congress in February, 1996.

DATES: Comments on the draft report are due no later than August 1,

1995.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may obtain a copy of the draft report,

free of charge, from NHTSA's Docket Section at the address below.

Written comments should refer to the docket and notice number of this

notice and should be submitted to: Docket Section, Room 5109, NASSIF

Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone:

202-366-4949. Docket hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through

Friday.

SUBMISSION OF COMMENTS: Interested persons are invited to submit

comments on the draft report. It is requested, but not required, that

10 copies be submitted. All comments must not exceed 10 pages in

length. (49 CFR 553.21). Necessary attachments may be appended to these

submissions without regard to the 10 page limit. This limitation is

intended to encourage commenters to detail their arguments in a concise

fashion. All comments received before the close of business on the

comment closing date indicated above for the draft report will be

considered, and will be available for examination in the docket at the

above address both before and after that date. To the extent possible,

comments filed after the closing date also will be considered. Those

persons desiring to be notified upon receipt of their comments in the

docket should enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the

envelope with their comments. Upon receiving the comments, the docket

supervisor will return the postcard by mail.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Dennis Utter, National Center for Statistics and Analysis NRD-31,

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street SW.,

Washington, DC 20590: Telephone 202-366-5351.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Report to Congress on the benefits of

safety belts and motorcycle helmets was mandated by Section 1031(b) of

the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA).

Grants were awarded to entities in Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, New York,

Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin to obtain the data and perform the

analyses upon which this report is based. NHTSA entitled the project

the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) Project. These CODES

grantee states linked statewide motor vehicle crash report data and

computerized emergency medical service, emergency department, hospital

discharge, and rehabilitative/long-term care data, so that those people

injured in motor vehicle crashes could be followed through the health

care system. The medical and financial outcome information was then

used to determine the benefits of the protective devices in crashes.

The grantees have provided NHTSA with the results of analyses using

these data, and NHTSA has summarized the results of the individual

state studies to produce the draft report to Congress. After the close

of the comment period, NHTSA will review any comments received and make

appropriate modifications to the report. The final version is to be

delivered to Congress by February, 1996.

The draft report provides an overview of the study, the databases

used, and the methodology used to link and analyze the data. The

effectiveness rates presented in the report show that safety belts are

highly effective in preventing injury and fatality in motor vehicle

traffic crashes, particularly the more serious injuries. Motorcycle

helmets also are effective in preventing fatalities and serious

injuries, but not as effective in preventing minor injuries. Average

inpatient charges are compared for belted and unbelted passenger

vehicle drivers and for helmeted and unhelmeted motorcycle riders.

Because the estimates of safety belt effectiveness are higher than

NHTSA's current estimates, a discussion is presented about the

potential effect of over-reporting of safety belt use on the study

results. However, the results support NHTSA's belief that safety belts

and motorcycle helmets are effective in reducing mortality and

morbidity and showed, for the first time, that costs (inpatient

charges) were significantly higher for unbelted hospitalized drivers

compared to those who used their safety belts.

The CODES project had other benefits. The project demonstrated the

efficacy of linking crash data files with medical outcome data files.

Through the cooperation of the highway safety and medical communities,

CODES was the first project to link state highway safety and injury-

related databases using a probabilistic linkage algorithm, whereby

statewide data from police crash reports, emergency medical services,

hospital emergency departments, hospital discharge files, claims, and

other sources were linked, without in most states the benefit of

personal identifiers. The project also showed examples of the value of

the linked data. Several of the CODES states have used their data to

support highway safety initiatives and to produce research articles.

Because the linked data are permanent and state specific, they can

continue to be used now and in the future at minimal cost to support

state and local highway safety initiatives.

Issued On: April 27, 1995.

Ricardo Martinez,

Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

[FR Doc. 95-10840 Filed 5-2-95; 8:45 am]

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