Social Engineering to Persuade Seat Belt Use

Social engineering is one way to try to solve a social problem. Through advertising, laws, education, and public service announcements, the idea is to try to change people’s beliefs and behaviors related to the problem. 

There have been several different ways that society has told us to put on our seatbelt when we get in the car. The first, and most significant, are the laws that are passed in our states. The laws vary from state to state. All 50 states in the U.S. have fines for 1^st offenses so this is definitely an incentive to wear your seat belt. You can see each state’s seat belt laws here:

http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/seatbelt_laws.htm

As for campaigns, “Click It or Ticket” is the most successful seat belt enforcement campaign ever. It has increased the national seat belt usage rate across the country. There are commercials on the TV that generally run this ad. This lets people know that they can get a ticket for not wearing a seat belt, and since it’s such a catchy slogan, people will remember it. It will put fear in people's minds when they think about not wearing a seat belt. So, hopefully they will. The following are a few advertisements that also try to get people to wear their seat belts.

This last advertisement might be the most effective one. It shows what could happen if you don’t wear a seat belt and get into a crash. I think this would really hit home with people who drive because they don’t want to end up like the picture above.

A public service announcement that may also hit home with people is this commercial: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L62ueMB0E5E

Even if you are a safe driver, not wearing your seat belt can have serious repercussions. The couple in the video looked very peaceful, driving slowly through a neighborhood looking for a house to buy, and then boom. This reiterates the need to wear a seat belt.