Pickup truck use in the National Personal Transportation Survey

To guide interventions to prevent injuries to pickup-truck occupants, we characterized pickup truck ownership, drivers and use in the 1995 National Personal Transportation Survey, which collects travel data from the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the US. SUDAAN software was used to account for the complex nature of the sample. Pickup truck ownership was more common in households with more vehicles, in rural households, in households living in single family homes and mobile homes, and in middle-income households. Among US regions, pickup truck ownership was highest among households in the mountain west. Pickup truck ownership was greater in households with two adults, whether or not children or youths were present, but this was largely due to the number of vehicles in these households. Driving a pickup on the sample day was more frequent among men, among drivers with less education and among full-time workers. A higher proportion of trips to work, work-related trips, longer trips and trips with fewer people were by pickup truck. Seat belt use was lower among pickup truck drivers than drivers of other vehicles. For only 0.5% of households (those with three or more members and a pickup truck as their only vehicle), restrictions on travel in cargo areas might be burdensome. Restrictions on cargo area travel, strengthening existing seat belt laws and social marketing strategies might increase the safety of pickup truck occupants.