OBJECTIVE To determine the risk of significant injury associated with premature graduation of young (2- to 5-year-old) children to seat belts from child restraint systems (CRS). BACKGROUND Advocates recommend use of child safety seats for children younger than age 4 and booster seats for children age 4 and older. Despite these recommendations, many children are prematurely taken out of these ...

A six-month study into the effect of a substantial programme of integrated health education promoting the use of seat belts showed no major change in the rates for occupants of front seats, which remained around 35%. Though there were increases of up to 5% in the rates for wearing seat belts immediately after the multimedia campaigns which achieved high penetration, only those among women drive...

Even though the safety benefits of using seat belts are well-known among the transportation community, the average usage rates in some states remain at relatively low levels than it is desired. Among many factors that could be contributing the situation, the type of the seat belt law could be a major one. While many states still need to aggressively work on passing the primary seat belt law, es...

Three unusual injuries of the cervical spine in wearers of safety belts are reported. In each case, the presence of diagonal bruising and abrasions in the line of the sash strap indicated its involvement in the mechanism of the injury.

brought before parliament in early 1986. The next and obvious stage is to extend the requirement to rear seat occupants. Britain is one of the last of the motorised nations which does not yet require fitting rear seat belts. In depth studies of crashes have shown that one of the limitations to the protection of front seat occupants occurs in frontal collisions when correctly belted front occupa...

1. I NI Of the 42,000 people killed in traffic accidents, only 6 are children on school buses. 2. I NI School buses are safe enough already. 3. I NI High-backed seats on school buses help to “package children like eggs.” 4. I NI Lap and shoulder belts reduce injuries by 45 percent. 5. I NI Padded seats are all that is needed to protect students from harm. 6. I NI Buses are seven times safer tha...

This study evaluated a device that applied a sustained increase in accelerator pedal back force whenever drivers exceeded a preset speed criterion without buckling their seat belts. This force was removed once the belt was fastened. Participants were 6 commercial drivers who operated carpet-cleaning vans. During baseline, no contingency was in place for unbuckled trips. The pedal resistance was...

Helmet use protects against head injury. Our objective was to assess whether parental knowledge of helmet safety is associated with helmet use in children, and whether a relationship exists between helmet ownership and other safety behaviors. Three hundred forty-one surveys were distributed to parents of third through fifth graders; 97% of parents believed that a helmet confers protection; 49% ...