An Examination of the Effects of Delayed Versus Immediate Prompts on Safety Belt Use

Abstract

A three-group designwas used to evaluate the effects of immediate and delayed verbal prompts on seat belt use versus a no-prompt control condition. Participants in this study were drivers who used valet parking services at a hotel. In the immediate-prompt condition, participants were prompted to buckle up immediately before entering a vehicle; in the delayed-prompt condition, the prompt was delivered when participants delivered the ticket to have their vehicles retrieved. The average delay between a prompt and when participants'vehicles were in motionwas nearly 30 s in the immediate-prompt condition, whereas the delay in the delayed-prompt condition was nearly 5 min 30 s. It was hypothesized that (a) delayed prompts would result in increased seat belt usage rates as compared to the control condition and (b) immediate prompts would lead to higher seat belt usage than delayed prompts. Results supported the second hypothesis but not the first.