INFANTS AND TODDLERS IN PASSENGER CAR CRASHES

The study indicates that the use of child restraints is increasing, that child restraints decrease the occurrence of injury by over 80 percent, that sitting on an adults lap decreases the risk of minor injury but increase the risk of serious injury, and that unrestrained children of under 5 years are, in general, less likely to suffer serious injury than older unrestrained car occupants. Trends in child restraint use are reviewed, and the effectiveness of child restraints are discussed. The special care of children in laps are considered, and comparisons are made of injuries by age of persons sustaining the injuries. Notes are included on the analytical methods used in the study. These notes relate to sample weighting factors, difficulties in estimating non-towaway accident characteristics, injury categorization, adjustments for missing medical data, and model of serious or fatal injury rate versus body weight. Three appendices are included and cover the following: injuries in lap-holding situations, unrestrained occupant injury types, and unrestrained occupant injury contacts.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution of this report is limited.
• Corporate Authors:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Partyka, S
• Publication Date: 1983-5

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 66 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Analysis; Automobiles; Child restraint systems; Children; Crashes; Injuries
• Old TRIS Terms: Analytical method
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00382394
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-806 469
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Mar 30 1984 12:00AM