Because of differences in legislation about the restraint of child passengers in motor vehicles in the Australian states of New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia (WA) at that time, a comparison was made of the age-specific rates of passenger injury and associated restraint use for children aged under three in these two states for the period 1982-92. A descriptive retrospective study of child passenger injuries in these states was conducted for that period. Information obtained about the injured children included data about injury, sex, restraint use, driver, vehicles, and collision factors such as time and posted speed limit. To ensure compatibility between data sources, severity of injury was classified into deaths, hospital admissions, and medical treatment not requiring hospital admission. A chi-square test was used to test significance of differences, and an unconditional logistic regression model was used to determine which factors best predicted restraint usage versus non-usage. Both injury and fatality rates were higher in WA than in NSW, but 80% and 79% of child passengers injured in WA and NSW, respectively, were restrained at the time of injury. The evidence suggests that non-use of restraints is not the most likely cause of WA's higher injury rate. More research is needed to expalin the difference.
Abstract