The 2007 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey was the sixth in a series of periodic national telephone surveys on occupant protection issues conducted for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data collection was conducted by Schulman, Ronca & Bucuvalas, Inc., a national survey research organization. The survey used two questionnaires, each administered to a randomly selected national sample of about 6,000 persons age 16 or older. Interviewing began January 9, 2007 and ended April 30, 2007. This report presents the survey findings pertaining to child restraint use. Detailed information on the survey methodology, as well as copies of the questionnaires, are contained in a separate NHTSA report (“2007 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey. Volume 1. Methodology Report”). Among drivers who lived with children age 12 or younger, most indicated that the youngest child typically rode in the back seat. Parents/caregivers of children under the age of 9 usually said the (referent) child either used a child car seat all the time(77%) or never (18%). If the child never used a car seat, it usually was because the child had graduated to seat belt use.However, 23% of the children who never used a car seat but wore seat belts said the shoulder belt cut across their face or neck on most trips, 23% usually put the shoulder belt behind their back, and 12% put the shoulder belt under their arm. Manychildren ages 6 through 8 discontinued using child car seats (including booster seats). Although booster seats are recommendedfor most children ages 4 through 8, the survey found only 40% of children in that age range using them and another 24% using front-facing child safety seats. While most parents/caregivers (92%) had heard of booster seats, 17% of these had concernsabout their safety. (Author/publisher)
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