2-IIHS Status Report, Vol. 23, No. 11, December S, 1988

Drivers Who Use Radar Detectors

way Administration to ban radar detectorsin commercial vehicles. Recently, FHWAreruled the peUlian. (See ShJ1us Report, Vol.23, No.2, July 9, 1988.)

Two telephone surveys of a national prolrability sample of people 18 or older wereconducted. In August, 503 men and 505women were interviewed, and in September500 men and 507 women were interviewed.The September respondents were askedseparately whether they had used andwhether they owned radar detectors. Allother responses are for the two samplescombined. Detailed results are available inthe report, "A Survey About Radar Detec­tors and Driving Bebavior," by writingPublications, Insurance Institute forHighway Safety, Watergate 600, Washing·lon, D.C., 20037.

SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

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speeding ticket one to four times, 18 per­cent say it has done so between five andnine times; furthermore 19 percent boastthat a detector has kept tbem from getting10 or more tickets in the past year alone.

The radar detector industry has grownrapidly in recent years. It's now a bigbusiness that has aggressively marketedwith slogans like, "We Fix SpeedingTickets." Astudy SJKlnsored by a manufac­turers group purported to show that radardetector users are at least as safe as therest of the driving population, but research­ers for the Instilute found that the studydesign was inadequate to answer the moreimportant questions of whether detectorshad a detrimental effect on tickets orcrashes.

Saying that detectors "serve no purposeother than to assist speeders to avoid detec­tion by police," five national organiza­tions, including the Insurance Institute forHighway Safety, asked Ihe Federal High-

Many Motorists AdmitDriving Faster WhenUsing a 'Fuzz Buster'

(Cont'd from Poge f)

used to pick up the presence of police radarsignals, beep, buzz, blink, or otherwisewarn the driver that police are measuringvehicle speeds in the vicinity. Their use isillegal in Connecticut, Virginia, the Districtof Columbia, and five Canadian provinces.

Of those admitting they have used adetector, ahout one-third did not personal­ly own the device, indicating that thedevices, which cost up to several hundreddollars, are sometimes shared by more thanone driver.

Three-quarters of those who drive fasterwith their radar detectors say they driveal least 10 mph faster. Eighteen percentreport they drive 15 mph faster, II per­cent admit they drive 20 mph faster, and5 percent say 25 mph or more faster.

Earlier Institute research found that thefastest vehicles on highways in Marylandand Virginia were the ones most likely tohave radar detectors. Using special undetec·table radar, the researchers found that onein four vehicles traveling in excess of 70mph were likely to have radar detectors.

Three-quarters of the respondents saythat a radar detector has kept them fromgetting a ticket, and many of these say thatit has worked more than once. Over one­half admit it has saved them from a

Drivers Who Use Radar Detectors5~ Don't Know

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A doctoral .lUdent al Johns HopkinaUniversity School of Hygiene and PublicHealth has been named the 1989 winne'01 the William Haddon, Jr. felJowsIlip awardfor the study of injury prevention.

Daniel William Webste, was chosen byJohns Hopkins Injury Prevenlion Centerfaculty as the tbinI recipient of the award.W_ earned an M.P.H. from the Univer·sity of Micbigan and ~ a student of theHealtb Policy and M_nl Departmentat Hopkina.

8-IIHS Status Report, Vol. 23, NQ. /I, December 3, /988

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report higher vehicle belt use than tbosewho do not wear helmets. Over half do notbelieve they are susceptible 10 head injury.Fifty-six percent understand that head in­juries can be dangerous. Eighty-two per­cent say they think helmets are effedive.

Of the 21 bicyclists who reported fallingand hilling their heads during the prior 18months, eight were helmeted when they felland reported no head injuries. By com·parison, seven of the 13 who were un­helmeted when they fell reported head in­juries. Three said they had concussions.

"Head Injuries to Pedal Cyclists and thePromotion of Helmet Use in Victoria,Australia," by Tom Wood and Peter Milne,appeared in Vol. 20, No.3 of AccidentAnalysis and Prevention

"Bicyclists, Helmets, and Head Injuries:ARider·1\ased Siudy o( Helmet Use and Ef·fediveness," by Richard C. Wasserman,Julian A. Waller, Melanie J. Monly, Alice8. Emery, and OanielJe R. Robinson, ap­peared in the September 1988 issue of theAmerican Journal of PubJil: Health.

HEAD INJURY

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radio advertising campaign in early 1984and reran the ads at Christmastime. Arangeof other support activities also began.

Helmet use among urban area primaryschoolchildren rose dramalically, from aoout5 percent in 1983 to 58 percent in 1986.Surveyors found older teenagers' helmet userose from 2 percent in 1983 to 18 percentin 1986. Helmet use among adult com­muters is traditionally higher than the restof the bicycling population. II rose from 26percent in 1983 to 44 percent in 1986. Morerural residents use helmets than in previousyears, but levels remain lower than amongurban cyclists.

Separately, a study by researchers (romthe University o( Vermont's departments ofpediatrics and medicine reports that, ofmore than 500 bicyclists stopped and in­teniewed regarding their use and attitudestoward helmets, 19 percent say they ownhelmets. but only 8 percent actually hadone on when interviewed.

The researchers found that riders whowear beJmets tend to be more educated thanthose who ride without. They also tend to

Australian researchers report that pro­grams to increase helmet use amongbicyclists in Vktoria achieved large gainsin helmet use and a signifICant drop in beadinJunes,

Researtbers for the Road Traff~ Authori­ty say the rate of head injuries amongcyclists killed or admilled to hospitals inVktoria declined 20 percent between 1982and 1984

F..ldl year. bicycle-motor vehicle rollisionsamlunt for about 1,200 reported injuriesand 30 deaths in Victoria. About 33 per­cent of those reported sustained head in­juries. And among those fatally struck bymotor vehicles, 80 percent suffered headinjuries, the researchers say,

Efforts to increase bicycle helmet usestarted with a bicycle safety program forschooldIiJdren aged 9 10 13 in 1980. Follow·ing the adoption of improved voluntaryhelmet standards and the introduction ofbeller helmets in the marketplace in 1982,the government expanded its helmet safe­ty program and commissioned a marketresearch study. That effort disclosed thatolder boys generally are less inclined towear helmets than are any others. Youngerboys and girls-less innuenced by peerpressure-are not quite as likely to resistwearing helmets. The researchers foundthat the most effective use of funds wouldbe to dired promotional activities abouthelmet use toward the mothers of youngerchildren.

Thus, advertising was geared towardparents and efforts to lower the cost ofhelmets, which ran about $45, were under­taken. School principals and parent groupsmade bulk purchases of helmets to lowerthe price. and many schools adopted com­pulsory helmet use requirements forchildren rKiing to and from school. Thegovernment also supported a teJevlSion and

Bicycle Helmet UseCampaign In Austra1iaReduces Head lujuries