Restraint use in 4-8-year-old children : Texas children need a boost : restraint use among 4-8 year old children examined in pediatric hospitals following motor vehicle collisions.

In 2003, motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) were the leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations in Texas (n=26,750) and claimed the lives of approximately 11 Texans each day (Jones, Johnson, Hellsten & Mathabela, 2004). Nationwide, more than 400 children between the ages of four and eight are killed in MVCs annually (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2004). MVCs are the leading cause of death for children of this age cohort, killing 44 in Texas in 2003 alone (Office of Statistics and Programming, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005). When children in this age cohort survive a MVC, they frequently sustain debilitating injuries with lifelong medical and financial consequences (Winston, Durbin, Kallan, & Moll, 2000). Often these injuries are the direct result of improperly restraining a four-to-eight-year-old child in a seatbelt system designed for adults. Safety devices, known as “booster seats,” are effective in preventing such injuries (Durbin, Elliot, & Winston, 2003), at a level similar to the protective effects traditional child safety seats (CSS) provide for children under four years of age. (Author/publisher)