The majority of young children riding in motor vehicles in the United States continued to be restrained by some type of child safety seat or seat belt, with 98 percent of infants and 89 percent of children ages 1 to 3 so restrained in 2006. This result is from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS),which provides the only probability-based observed data on child restraint use in the United States. The NOPUS is conducted annually by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The 2006 survey also found the following: • Children between the ages of 4 and 7 continued to be restrained at somewhat lower rates than younger children, with 78 percent of these children restrained by a safety seat or seat belt in 2006. • Most children continued to ride in the rear seat of vehicles. In 2006, 93 percent of infants, 94 percent of children ages 1 to 3, and 91 percent of children ages 4 to 7 rode in the rear seat. • Child restraint use continued to be higher in the West than other parts of the country in 2006. • Child restraint use continued to be lower when the driver was unbelted than for belted drivers in 2006. (Author/publisher)
Abstract