Child seating position and restraint use in three states.
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OBJECTIVE: Because of risks from deploying airbags to children in front seats, extensive publicity has been aimed at getting them restrained and in rear seats. The objective of this study was to assess restraint use and seating positions among children in vehicles with and without airbags. METHOD: Surveys were conducted in cities in Michigan, North Carolina, and Texas 1998. Restraint use and seating position were noted for all children, as well as their estimated age, driver belt use, airbag presence, and vehicle license plate number. RESULTS: Fewer children were observed in the front seats of vehicles with passenger airbags (24%) than in vehicles without them (36%). Most of the children seated in front were ages 7-12 (44%-61%), followed by 3-6 year olds (29%-35%). Very few children ages 0-2 were seated in front (5%-12%). The overwhelming majority of children ages 0-2 were restrained. However, children ages 3-6 seated in the front were least likely to be restrained and most likely to be improperly restrained. Restraint use was higher when the driver was belted, but about 30% of 3-6 year olds were unrestrained even with a belted driver. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts should continue to educate parents about the importance of correct restraint use and rear seating for children, particularly once children move from child safety seats into adult belts. Efforts also should be made to enforce the seat belt laws that exist in every state. (+info)
Adult-worn child carriers: a potential risk for injury.
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OBJECTIVES: To examine and describe types of injuries associated with adult-worn child carriers and illustrate the need for careful use of these products by parents. METHODS: A literature search for the terms infant carriers, backpack carriers, infant slings, baby carriers, and baby slings was conducted. Information was also obtained and tabulated from the three Consumer Product Safety Commission databases: the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), the In-Depth Investigations File, and the Injury/Potential Injury Incident File. RESULTS: No reports of injuries were found in the medical literature. In the NEISS database, 51 injuries were reported between January 1990 and September 1998. Of these injuries, 38 (74.5%) were head traumas and eight (15.7%) were facial trauma. Of the 51 injuries, 11 (22%) required hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the data presented in this paper, injuries associated with the use of adult-worn child carriers appear to come from three general sources: product appropriateness and design, product condition, and product use. It is important for health care providers to assist in the dissemination of information regarding the safe use of these products to parents in an effort to prevent injuries. (+info)
Motor-vehicle occupant fatalities and restraint use among children aged 4-8 years--United States, 1994-1998.
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In the United States, more children aged 4-8 years die as occupants in motor-vehicle-related crashes than from any other form of unintentional injury (1). To reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by motor-vehicle-related trauma, child passengers in this age group should be restrained properly in a vehicle's back seat (2). To characterize fatalities, restraint use, and seating position among occupants aged 4-8 years involved in fatal crashes, CDC analyzed 1994-1998 data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), which is maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicate that during 1994-1998, little change occurred in the death rate, restraint use, and seating position among children aged 4-8 years killed in crashes. (+info)
A multifaceted approach to improving motor vehicle restraint complicance.
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OBJECTIVES: To increase proper use of seat belts and car seats, thereby reducing morbidity and mortality from motor vehicle collisions. SETTING: The Vehicle Injury Prevention program community intervention was implemented in Houston, Texas. Effectiveness data are limited to "target area one", an impoverished neighborhood in northeast Harris County. METHODS: This multifaceted public health education campaign brought together six segments of the community: education, health, government, law enforcement, private industry, and the media, to improve restraint use. It was evaluated by observation of proper restraint use before and nine months after implementation. Trained, independent observers made observations of occupants in the target area and at two comparison sites. Pre-post differences in restraint compliance were calculated by a standard binomial proportion test. RESULTS: Motorists in target area one significantly improved their restraint use by 15% (p<0.05) from 39% pre-intervention to 54% post-intervention, whereas use in the comparison neighborhoods remained unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a public health education program, combined with economic incentives to increase vehicle restraint use, can be successful with multifaceted community support. (+info)
Assessing child restraint misuse by parental survey.
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OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent to which child restraint system (CRS) misuse can be evaluated by parental survey. METHODS: A cross sectional survey was conducted at eight CRS clinics from May to October, 1998. Before CRS inspection, parents were administered a structured interview to identify distinct characteristics of restraint use and misuse. After the interview, a certified child passenger safety technician team independently evaluated the restraint system and identified specific modes of misuse. Parent descriptions of CRS use were compared with observations of the technician and the degree of agreement between the two was assessed for several specific attributes of use. RESULTS: A total of 100 children restrained in convertible CRSs were included in the study. Parents were able to accurately report several aspects of child restraint use-in particular, the attachment and fit of the CRS, the use of the harness clip, and the CRS incline. Parents were less accurate in their characterization of the fit of the child in the CRS. For nearly every item assessed, parents were more accurate in their description of correct compared with incorrect use. CONCLUSIONS: Interview tools can be developed that enable parents to describe aspects of CRS use and that screen for correct CRS use. These tools could be administered by telephone to obtain a more representative estimate of the prevalence of CRS misuse or to screen for CRS misuse. This screening would assist in targeting time consuming and costly CRS clinics to those parents who need them the most. (+info)
Misuse of booster seats.
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OBJECTIVE: To describe several aspects of booster seat use and misuse in a sample of children attending child safety seat clinics. METHODS: Booster seat practices were assessed at 76 child safety seat clinics held between April 1997 and January 1999 in Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. At each assessment, a child passenger safety team evaluated the booster seat and identified modes of misuse. RESULTS: Altogether 227 booster seats were observed. Sixty eight per cent (68%) of shield boosters and 20% of belt positioning boosters were misused. Thirty two per cent of the children using a shield booster weighed more than 40 lb (18.1 kg); 68% of children in shield boosters and 63% in belt positioning boosters weighed less than 40 lb. CONCLUSION: This study identified a relatively high rate of booster seat misuse. Shield boosters were more likely to be misused than belt positioning booster seats. Significant numbers of children weighing more than 40 lb were using possibly dangerous shield boosters. The majority of children in this study were less than 40 lb. In this weight range, a convertible child restraint system provides better protection than a booster seat. Booster seat use should only be initiated once the child has completely outgrown their convertible child restraint system. (+info)
A preschool program for safety and injury prevention delivered by home visitors.
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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of an injury prevention program delivered by school based home visitors to the families of low income children attending preschool enrichment programs in Washington State. STUDY SAMPLE: The families of children attending preschool Head Start programs in two regions were eligible. A total of 213 families (77.8% of those eligible) from intervention sites, and 149 families (71.9% of those eligible) from concurrent comparison sites, agreed to participate and completed the trial. INTERVENTION: Trained school personnel conducted home safety inspections as part of a planned home visit. Intervention families were offered educational materials as well as smoke detectors, batteries, ipecac, and age appropriate car safety restraints based on results of the home inspection. EVALUATION METHODS: At a repeat home visit three months later, the proportion of families with a positive change in injury prevention knowledge or behavior among those in the intervention group was compared with the proportion in the comparison group. Smoke detector presence and function were observed. RESULTS: Among families without a working smoke detector at baseline, the intervention was associated with an increased probability of having a working detector at follow up (relative risk (RR) 3.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3 to 8.6). Intervention families were also more likely to report the presence of ipecac in the home (RR 4.7, 95% CI 3.0 to 7.3) at follow up and to have obtained an age appropriate booster seat (RR 4.1, 95% CI 1.9 to 8.8). The program was acceptable to client families and to the home visitors who conducted the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Among the families of low income children enrolled in preschool enrichment programs, home safety inspections and the distribution of safety supplies by school based home visitors appears to improve knowledge and behavior related to poisoning, smoke detector installation, and car safety seat use over three months of follow up. (+info)
Head trajectories of restrained child dummy in sled tests over 56 kph delta-v.
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Child restraint devices (CRDs) have been used for many years to protect children in automotive crashes. The following data was collected to find out whether current restraints would be able to pass more stringent dynamic testing at higher changes in velocity (delta-v), such as the NHTSA NCAP program or the IIHS offset barrier test, and to look at one possible misuse mode. Three basic types of CRDs were sled tested at a delta-v between 57.5 & 61.4 kph (35.7 & 38.1 mph). Data from each test are presented and compared. Comparisons are made between each seat's sled test results and various countries' standards. (+info)