SAFETY OF LAP BELT RESTRAINT FOR PREGNANT VICTIMS OF AUTOMOBILE COLLISIONS

A STUDY WAS MADE OF 441 PREGNANT VICTIMS OF AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS, 69 OF WHOM WERE LAP-BELETED AND 372 UNRESTRAINED. LAP BELT RESTRAINT WAS ASSOCIATED WITH A REDUCTION IN MATERNAL DEATH FROM 7.8% TO 3.6% AND WITH AN INCREASE IN FETAL LOSS FROM 14.4% TO 16.7% IN SEVERE COLLISIONS. BECAUSE THESE DIFFERENCES ARE NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT, IT IS CONCLUDED THAT LAP BELT RESTRAINT IS NOT HARMFUL TO EITHER THE MOTHER OR THE FETUS. LAP BELT RESTRAINT IS EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING INJURY PRIMARILY BY PREVENTING EJECTION. AMONG THOSE INVOLVED IN SEVERE COLLISIONS, THE MATERNAL DEATH RATE AMONG EJECTEES WAS 33% AND 5% AMONG THOSE NOT EJECTED. THE FETAL DEATH RATE WAS 47% WHEN THE MOTHER WAS EJECTED AND 11% WHEN SHE WAS NOT. SINCE THESE DIFFERENCES ARE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT, LAP BELT RESTRAINT SHOULD BE RECOMMENDED FOR USE BY PREGNANT TRAVELERS. /AUTHOR/

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00284793
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 284, pp 632-635
• Authors:
  • Crosby, W M
  • Costiloe, J P
• Publication Date: 1971-3-25

Media Info

• Serial:
  • New England Journal of Medicine
  • Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society
  • ISSN: 0028-4793
  • EISSN: 1533-4406
  • Serial URL: http://www.nejm.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Ejection; Fatalities; Fetus; Manual safety belts; Pregnant women; Traffic crashes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221309
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 11 1971 12:00AM