The purpose of the study presented in this scientific poster is to examine whether differences in riding with a drinking driver and in the use of child restraints may help explain observed cross-group differences in motor vehicle occupant death rates for youth. Data used came from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS) Multiple Cause of Death File. Five racial/ethnic groups are included in the analyses: Caucasian Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Islander Americans, and Hispanic Americans, of whom about 75% are Mexican Americans. The study covers 12,266 children under age 16 killed in crashes in the USA between January 1, 1990 and December 31, 1996. Child fatalities were the unit of analysis. Besides race/ethnicity information, age is that of the killed children. Gender and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) are associated with the drivers of the vehicles in which the children were travelling at the time of the crash. Logistic regression analyses were used to test the significance of these predictor variables. Analyses of child fatalities indicate that despite laws and public information campaigns designed to protect underage vehicle occupants from motor vehicle-related trauma, children in some groups (for example, African and Hispanic Americans) continue to be at considerable risk.
Samenvatting