OBJECTIVE Booster seat use among school-aged children has been consistently lower than national goals. In this study, we sought to explore associations between parental experiences with booster seats and carpooling. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional Web-based survey of a nationally representative panel of US parents in January 2010. As part of a larger survey, parents of 4- to 8-year-old...

OBJECTIVE To measure the effect of the WHO Safe Communities model approach to increasing child restraint use in motor vehicles. DESIGN Pre- and post-intervention observations of restraint use in motor vehicles in several sites in the target area, and in a comparison area community. SETTING Community; southeast Dallas, Texas, 2003-2005. INTERVENTIONS A multifaceted approach to increasing u...

This paper assesses the effectiveness of child safety seat laws in the United States. Over the past 35 years, these laws have steadily increased mandatory child safety seat restraint ages. We exploit state-year level variation in the age until which children are required to ride in child safety seats to estimate triple difference models using Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data from ...

The number one cause of death for children younger than 14 years is vehicular injury. Child safety seats and automobile safety belts protect children in a crash if they are used correctly, but if a child does not fit in the restraint correctly, it can lead to injury. A child safety seat should be used until the child correctly fits into an adult seat belt. It is important for physicians caring ...

Over the last thirty years, the use of child safety seats in motor vehicles has increased dramatically, fueled by well publicized information campaigns and legal mandates. In spite of this movement, there is relatively little empirical evidence regarding the efficacy of child safety seats relative to the much cheaper alternative of traditional seat belts. Using data from the Fatality Analysis R...

OBJECTIVE Research has shown that rear-seated children are 36 to 40 percent safer than front-seated children. Because of the substantial differences in traffic safety culture that appear to exist in rural areas and the limited research regarding seat placement and rurality, this study seeks to contribute to the safety literature by determining at what rate children are riding in the front seat ...

OBJECTIVE Observe and report seat belt use among children transported in belt-positioning booster seats. DESIGN We conducted a cross-sectional, observational survey of children transported in motor vehicles between 2006 and 2007. While drivers completed a survey reporting the child's age, weight and gender, and the driver's age, gender, race, income, education, and relationship to the child; ...