This poster presents an analysis aimed at studying road accidents involving children under 10 years old. The goals are to estimate the effectiveness of child restraint systems (CRS) in France, and to compare the results of a previous study by the same authors in 1992-1993 using the same methods. The accidents studied occurred during four months in 1995 and 1996 and involved only cars, one or several. During the period studied, 1,327 children were involved in 877 accidents. 53.1% of the children used specific CRS; 18.3% used a seat belt. Overall effectiveness is as follows: rearward facing systems reduced the proportion of Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS) equal to or greater than 2 injuries by 88%, forward facing harness systems by 71%, and boosters by 31%. Comparison of these two similar studiescarried out at an interval of 4 years shows among other things an increasing CRS usage rate and an apparent improvement in CRS effectiveness when used. Although the use of CRS has risen during the past few years, no significant reduction in the national child mortality rate is noticed. The reasons for this situation seem to be explained partly by the high frequency of misuse and the increasing injury severity for unrestrained children. (A)
Abstract