A National Perspective on Child Passenger Safety

1
A National Perspective on Child Passenger Safety

• Thursday, April 27, 2006

2
Todays Issues

• High use rates among infants and toddlers
• Drop in use as children get older
• Misuse high across all child restraint system
  types (73)
• Premature graduation to adult belts
• High percentage still unrestrained
• Fatalities beginning to creep up
• The tween problem

3
Usage Rates

• Infants 0-1
• 2004 rate 98
• 2002 rate 99
• Toddlers 1-3
• 2004 rate 93
• 2002 rate 94
• Children 4-7
• 2004 rate 73
• 2002 rate 83

4
Child Seat Misuse

• Overall child seat misuse 73
• Occurs when
• Child passengers are improperly placed in child
  restraint systems
• Child passengers are moved into adult belts
  prematurely
• Child restraint is improperly installed

5
Premature Graduation

• All children who have outgrown child safety seats
  should be properly restrained in booster seats
  until they are at least 8 years old, unless they
  are 49 tall
• Booster seats reduce injury risk by 59 compared
  to riding in adult safety belt (CHOP)
• 4 out of 5 children who should ride in boosters,
  do not.

6
Unrestrained Kids

• Severest form of misuse is non-use
• During 2003, approximately 8,000 passenger
  vehicle occupants under 15 were involved in fatal
  crashes.

7
The Tween Issue

• Usually described as children between 8-15.
• This age group greatly influenced by adult belt
  use
• In 2003, almost twice as many unrestrained 8-15
  year olds died in motor vehicle crashes as did
  0-7 year old.

8
Todays Solutions

• Nationwide infrastructure of trained CPS
  technicians
• National Standardized Curriculum
• Materials Transportation Safety Tips for
  Children Ease of Use Rating System
  English-Spanish Translation of Terms, Are You
  Using It Right?

9
Solutions

• Partnerships with the Governors Highway Safety
  Association, National Child Passenger Safety
  Board, Safe Kids Worldwide, etc.
• Occupant Protection for Children Assessments
• New Model Law
• 2011 Grant Program