Abstract
470 children aged 4-14 years presenting at 10 Canadian university-based crash investigation centres were compared with 1301 adults to determine the effectiveness of safety belts. The severity of injury was adjusted for age and crash severity. Overall, 40% of the children had not been wearing safety belts at the time of the crash. The likelihood of sustaining fatal or moderately severe injury for children in the front passenger seat was 9.8-fold greater for unbelted than for belted children, and in the rear left seat was 2-fold greater for belted than for unbelted children. Equivalent figures for adults in the two seating positions were 2.4- and 2.7-fold.