RESUMO
The use of preventive measures is an important indication of the extent to which both the health system and the community are committed to the promotion of health. Seat belt usage can provide the last line of defense when all possibilities of prevention of car accidents are exploited. For these reasons this work was intended to Document the current status of seat belt usage and to clarify the factors determining the compliance of taxi drivers with this personal protection activity. Three hundred professional drivers were randomly selected from a central car park in the greater Cairo and interviewed according to a questionnaire. The main results of this study were as follows: 1] 6% of interviewed drivers use seat belts regularly and 9.7% sometimes use it, whereas 84.3% do not use it at all. 2] The majority of seat a high-belt users are nonsmokers 70.2% [P < 0.05], and with er educational levels than non-users. 3] Interviewed drivers claimed that seat belts may be hazardous [30.8%], restrict movement [26.1%] or not useful in prevention of severe injuries [40.7%]. These data point to the need for comprehensive educational, legislative and training efforts to achieve a high seat belt compliance among this sector of workers