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Child Passenger Safety: Fact Sheet

Featured Observance
National Child Passenger
Safety Week

Motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death among children in the U.S.1 But many of these deaths can be prevented. Placing children in age- and size-appropriate car seats and booster seats reduces serious and fatal injuries by more than half.2

father securing child in a child car seatHow big is the problem?

What are the risk factors?

How can injuries to children in motor vehicles be prevented?

What are CDC’s research and program activities in this area?

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How big is the problem?

What are the risk factors?

How can injuries to children in motor vehicles be prevented?

What are CDC’s research and program activities in this area?

Child passenger restraint use and emergency department-reported injuries: A special study using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program, 2004
CDC’s Injury Center conducted a special study of the NEISS-All Injury Program for 635 injured children aged 12 years or under treated at 15 hospital emergency departments (ED) in 2004. These children all sustained injuries in motor-vehicle crashes. Multiple injury diagnoses were collected and parents of children were interviewed about motor-vehicle crash circumstances. The study found that nine percent of the children were unrestrained and 36% were inappropriately restrained.
11

ICARIS 2 Child Counseling Study
CDC's Injury Center researchers conducted a cross-sectional, list-assisted random-digit-dial telephone survey of randomly selected children in English or Spanish-speaking households in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The main outcome measures were respondents’ reports that they or their children received injury-prevention counseling from their child’s health care provider in the 12 months preceding the interview, children’s practices of safety behaviors, and the association of injury-prevention counseling and such behaviors. Findings suggest that, although the prevalence of pediatric injury-prevention counseling remains low, such counseling was associated with safer behaviors.
12

ICARIS 2 Child Restraint Study (in progress)
CDC’s Injury Center funded the Second Injury Control and Risk Survey, a nationally representative cross-sectional telephone survey conducted in all 50 states. Respondents were asked about their children’s restraint practices (ages 0-12 years) during the past 30 days. While there have been several observational studies that record restraint use at one point in time, this study is investigating whether parents are always using correct restraints or whether children are sometimes inappropriately restrained during a one-month period.

Identifying risk factors and examining outcomes for older children involved in motor vehicle crashes
CDC’s Injury Center is supporting the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to examine risk factors and outcomes for children younger than 16 years of age who were involved in motor vehicle crashes. Researchers are interviewing parents to learn about their typical use of child restraints and the particular restraint in use at the time of the crash. Interview questions also assess the parent’s understanding of child restraint laws in their state and explore how the motor vehicle crash has affected the child's daily life. This information will be considered with data about the types of injuries sustained in the crash, the child’s position in the car, and demographic characteristics of the child and driver. This research is part of an ongoing surveillance system that is a collaborative effort between researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance. The study will shed light on the impact of motor vehicle crashes on children’s daily lives. Results will be used to improve prevention strategies.

References

1CDC. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System [online]. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (producer). Available from URL: www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars. [2008 May 5].

2Department of Transportation (US), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Traffic Safety Facts 2006: Children. Washington (DC): NHTSA; 2008. [cited 2008 May 5]. Available from URL: Available from URL: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSF2005/810618.pdf.

3Department of Transportation (US), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Traffic Safety Facts 2006: Alcohol-Impaired Driving. Washington (DC): NHTSA; 2008 [cited 2008 May 5]. Available from URL: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/
menuitem.6a6eaf83cf719ad24ec86e10dba046a0/
.

4Shults RA. Child passenger deaths involving drinking drivers—United States, 1997−2002 [published erratum appears in MMWR 2004;53(5):109]. MMWR 2004;53(4):77–9.

5Cody BE, Mickalide AD, Paul HP, Colella JM. Child passengers at risk in America: a national study of restraint use. Washington (DC): National SAFE KIDS Campaign; 2002. Available from URL: http://www.usa.safekids.org/content_documents/ACFD6C.pdf

6Department of Transportation (US), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Traffic Safety Facts Research Note 2005: Misuse of Child Restraints: Results of a Workshop to Review Field Data Results. Washington (DC): NHTSA; 2006. Available from URL: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/research/TSF_ MisuseChildRetraints/images/809851.pdf. [cited 2008 March 19]

7Zaza, S, Sleet DA, Thompson RS, Sosin DM, Bolen JC, Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Reviews of evidence regarding interventions to increase the use of child safety seats. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2001 : 21 (4S), 31-47.

8Department of Transportation (US), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). BoosterSeat.gov. Washington (DC): NHTSA; 2006. Available from URL: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.
9f8c7d6359e0e9bbbf30811060008a0c/
. [cited 2008 May 16]

9Durbin DR, Elliott MR, Winston FK. Belt-positioning booster seats and reduction in risk of injury among children in vehicle crashes. JAMA 2003;289(14):2835–40.

10Durbin DR, Chen I, Smith R, Elliott MR, Winston FK. Effects of seating position and appropriate restraint use on the risk of injury to children in motor vehicle crashes. Pediatrics 2005;115:305-9.

11Lee K, Shults RA, Greenspan AI, Haileyesus T, Dellinger A. Child passenger restraint use and emergency department-reported injuries: a special study using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System- All Injury Program, 2004. Journal of Safety Research 2008. 39; 25-31.

12Chen J, Kresnow M, Simon TR, Dellinger A. Injury Prevention Counseling and Behavior Among US Children: Results from the Second Injury Control and Risk Survey. Pediatrics 2007. 119(4): e958-65.

 

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Content Source: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention
Page last modified: July 23, 2008