Contributing to the Body of Knowledge

Meharry’s seminal study “Achieving a credible health and safety approach to increasing seat belt use among African Americans” (Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 2000) has been instrumental in injury prevention over the years. Its earliest influence was upon the Blue Ribbon Panel to Increase Seat Belt Use Among African Americans, established by U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater the same year. It also contributed to the formation of the Meharry-State Farm Alliance in 2002. Subsequently, Alliance researchers have produced additional peer-reviewed studies. These studies have confirmed or debunked long held beliefs about seat belts, showing that seat belt use is related to the age, sex, weight, and ethnic group of the driver as well as the passenger. Particularly valuable has been the Alliance’s discovery that racial disparities can be eliminated by the enactment of primary seat belt legislation. These findings have been reported far and wide, generating international headlines.

In addition to making valuable contributions to the body of knowledge, Alliance scientists have created software for collecting data on seat belt use with handheld devices. Trained observers use them to monitor traffic, capturing live information about seat belt use and transmitting it electronically to researchers for analysis. On-line analysis is now possible, using software created by the team.

Conclusion: Meharry-State Farm Alliance researchers have solidified the statistics related to America’s seat belt habits and formed a basis for education programs and public policy initiatives.

Read more about Meharry-State Farm Alliance published research

(Click on the study title to view an abstract or actual content.)

Reducing unintentional injuries on the nation's highways: a literature review.

Schlundt D, Warren R, Miller S.

Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. 2004 Feb;15(1):76-98. Review.

Reducing unintentional injuries on the nation's highways: research and program policy to increase seat belt use.

Maupin JE Jr, Schlundt D, Warren R, Miller S, Goldzweig I, Warren H.

Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. 2004 Feb;15(1):4-17.

The Fatality Analysis Reporting System as a tool for investigating racial and ethnic determinants of motor vehicle crash fatalities.

Briggs NC, Levine RS, Haliburton WP, Schlundt DG, Goldzweig I, Warren RC.

Accident Analysis and Prevention. 2005 Jul;37(4):641-9. Epub 2005 Apr 11.

Seatbelt law enforcement and motor vehicle crash fatalities among blacks and whites in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Levine RS, Briggs NC, Schlundt DG, Stinson N Jr, Warren RC, Goldzweig IA.

Southern Medical Journal. 2006 Feb;99(2):143-8.

A conceptual framework for reducing risky teen driving behaviors among minority youth.

Juarez P, Schlundt DG, Goldzweig I, Stinson N Jr.

Inj Prev. 2006 Jun;12 Suppl 1:i49-55. Review.

Seat belt use among Hispanic ethnic subgroups of national origin.

Briggs NC, Schlundt DG, Levine RS, Goldzweig IA, Stinson N Jr, Warren RC.

Injury Prevention. 2006 Dec;12(6):421-6.

Seat belt law enforcement and racial disparities in seat belt use.

Briggs NC, Schlundt DG, Levine RS, Goldzweig IA, Stinson N Jr, Warren RC.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2006 Aug;31(2):135-41.

Evaluating the impact of service-learning projects on seat belt use among high school students

Service-Learning/From Passion to Objectivity, Advances in Service-Learning Research, October 2007

BMI and seatbelt use.

Schlundt DG, Briggs NC, Miller ST, Arthur CM, Goldzweig IA.

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007 Nov;15(11):2541-5.

Driver and passenger seatbelt use among U.S. high school students.

Briggs NC, Lambert EW, Goldzweig IA, Levine RS, Warren RC.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2008 Sep;35(3):224-9. Epub 2008 Jul 11.

Contributing researchers:

Richard Bradley, PhD
Janet Eyler, PhD
Irwin Goldzweig, MSc
Paul Juarez, PhD

Celia Larson, PhD
Robert Levine, MD

Wayne Moore, MD
Stephania Miller, PhD
David Schlundt, PhD