title: Attitudes toward a primary seat belt law among adults in a rural state with a secondary seat belt law.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Enforced primary seatbelt laws can reduce morbidity and mortality associated with motor-vehicle crashes. Constituent support is an important factor associated with legislator voting behavior toward injury prevention laws. Little is known about attitudes toward a primary seat belt law among adults in rural states without a primary seat belt law.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey, a telephone survey of a representative sample of adults in Montana, were used to assess attitudes toward a primary seat belt law.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-one percent of respondents supported a primary seat belt law. Using multiple logistic regression analyses, women (AOR 1.87; 95% CI 1.49-2.36), persons aged 65 years and older (1.45; 1.06-1.96), American Indians (2.71; 1.55-4.75), those with health insurance (1.51; 1.07-2.14), and those who reported always wearing their seat belt (4.05; 3.14-5.21) were more likely to support a primary seat belt law than respondents without these characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of adults in a rural state support a primary seat belt law.
authors.affiliation: Injury Prevention Program, Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Bureau, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Helena, MT, USA.
authors.forename: Bobbi Jo
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.forename: Steven D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Helgerson
authors.forename: Todd S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Harwell
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009009:Montana; D012424:Rural Population; D012622:Seat Belts / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D055815:Young Adult