Every state in the United States has a child restraint law, however, many children, especially children over 10 years of age, ride in vehicles unrestrained. In this paper the prevalence of child occupant restraint use by demographic factors and by state for 1997 is described. The authors also describe changes in child occupant restraint use between 1993-1997 and how changes in adult restraint use and adult safety belt laws impact child restraint use. Data were used from the Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), an annual telephone survey of adults aged 18 years and older conducted monthly by state health departments about health risk behaviours. Adult respondents were asked "What is age of the oldest child in your household under the age of 15?" Those who reported having a child under the age of 15 years were then asked "How often does the oldest child (of children under age 15) in your household use a car safety seat or seat belt when they ride in a car?" The authors report weighted percentages and 95% confidence intervals for each state. They also present overall estimates based on combined data from the 50 states and DC. Finally, logistic regression modelling was used to assess the influence of adult safety belt laws on child restraint use, after adjusting for demographic characteristics and age of the child. (A)
Abstract