Attitudes of drivers towards usage of safety seat belts in Kuwait

The use of safety seat belts has been proven universally to be one of the most protective means against injuries resulting from road traffic accidents, but no detailed study has been conducted to assess seat belt use in Kuwait. The aim of this paper was to investigate the attitudes, knowledge and practice of drivers towards safety belt use in Kuwait. A total of 700 patients were seen and treated in the accident and emergency departments of different hospitals, between December 1989 and June 1990. This study showed that there were no significant differences between the cases (20%) and control (25%) with regard to wearing safety seat belts. Also, the majority of case (43.6%) and control (40.9%) groups stated that the seat belt is the most protective measure against severe injuries and road traffic accidents. Finally, there is very strong support for the mandatory use of safety seat belt by case (43.7%) and control (50%) groups.