East Montgomery Times

PHILADELPHIA—A recent study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that small incentives can significantly improve seatbelt usage among drivers. The research, published in the American Journal of Public Health, demonstrated that promising drivers a share of $125 weekly prize money for maintaining perfect seatbelt use led to a 26 percent decrease in driving without a seatbelt during the incentive program. Even after the program ended, unbuckled trips were 33 percent less than those in a control group.

The study involved over 1,100 drivers across 49 states and tested three approaches: shared prize money, lottery entries for maintaining streaks, and personalized feedback via text messages. The shared prize approach proved most effective in encouraging consistent seatbelt use.

“We know that seatbelts reduce serious crash-related injuries and death by about half,” said Jeff Ebert, PhD, director of Applied Behavioral Science at the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit. “About 3,000 lives could be saved each year in the United States if everyone wore seatbelts.”

Participants who achieved perfect streaks with their seatbelts were promised a share of $125 weekly. This group drove unbuckled only 8.7 percent of the time compared to 11.9 percent in the control group. Even five weeks after incentives stopped, this group's rate was lower at 8.0 percent.

In addition to seatbelt use, researchers also measured handheld phone use while driving among some participants. Although not statistically significant due to sample size limitations, there was less phone use among those offered shared pot incentives.

“Tying incentives to perfect streaks worked really well for buckling up—a simple, one-click behavior that most drivers already perform,” noted M. Kit Delgado, MD, MS.

The Nudge Unit at Penn Medicine focuses on small interventions informed by behavioral science to encourage positive changes in behavior. Ebert commented on using connected vehicle data for "carrot" approaches as an alternative to traffic tickets.

Participants drove General Motors vehicles and volunteered through company emails. They received compensation for participating and installing an app tracking phone use while driving.

“The total cost of incentives for drivers assigned to this 10-week intervention was a modest $4.40 per driver—a cost that could potentially be sustained within auto insurance programs,” said Delgado.

Current research by Ebert and Delgado is exploring how insurers can optimize feedback through smartphone apps to promote safer driving behaviors like reducing speeding and phone use.

(Editor’s Note: This study was undertaken as a partnership between Penn Medicine’s Nudge Unit and General Motors.)