Though motor vehicle occupant restraint usage rates have dramatically improved in the past decade, many children still remain inadequately protected. Motor vehicle crashes are still the leading killer of children ages 1-14, and the traffic safety community now faces the hard-core problem of those who seem impervious to the warnings and sanctions related to nonuse of child restraints. The results of the current study are based on a sample of 9,332 children ages 14 and under who were observed in 6,297 motor vehicles between November 2001 and January 2002. The data were captured at 174 sites in 48 states and the District of Columbia. These data represent a combination of direct observation and driver interviews, entailing consent from each vehicle driver to observe in-depth the circumstances of restraint use of all children in the car. Adult drivers were asked to provide key variables including age and weight of the children in the vehicle, and race/ethnicity of the driver and the children. The study found the following results. Almost 14% of children aged 14 and under were found to be riding completely unrestrained. Older children were more likely to be unrestrained than younger children. Drivers who did not wear seat belts were less likely to restrain the children in their vehicle. Minority children were more likely to be unrestrained than their white counterparts. Almost 33% of children were using the wrong restraints for their size and age. Older children were more likely to be in the wrong restraint than younger children.
Abstract