One of the hidden dangers of police work is self-imposed—the failure to wear seat belts. Unfortunately, little evidence exists concerning the factors that account for why officers do not wear their seat belts. This study used a sample of 450 police officers to develop and test a framework for understanding the predictors of seat belt use. We found several factors that were associated with the frequency of officer seat belt use: the perceived likelihood of supervisors enforcing seat belt and other driving policies, organizational justice, having a departmental colleague previously struck by a vehicle, law enforcement experience, risky driving attitudes, number of prior on-duty collisions, being a patrol officer versus supervisor, and perceived risk of being involved in a vehicle collision. We discuss the practical implications of these findings as they apply to efforts aimed at improving officer driving safety and subsequent reduction in related injuries and deaths.

警察工作的潜在隐患之一是自我强加的-没有系好安全带。不幸的是，几乎没有证据表明造成人员不系安全带的原因。这项研究使用了450名警察的样本来开发和测试一个框架，以了解安全带使用的预测因素。我们发现了与安全带使用频率相关的几个因素：主管执行安全带和其他驾驶政策的感觉可能性，组织公正性，部门同事先前被车辆撞倒，执法经验，危险的驾驶态度，巡逻人员与监督员之间先前发生的上班交通事故的数量，并认为有卷入交通事故的风险。