EFFECTS OF MICHIGAN'S MANDATORY CHILD RESTRAINT LAW

On April 1, 1982, the State of Michigan implemented a law requiring that children under age four be restrained while riding in a passenger car or light truck. In 1983 an UMTRI study sponsored by the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning analyzed five years of traffic crash data (1978-1982) to assess the effects of the law during its first nine months (April through December, 1982). That initial study found that restraint use among crash-involved children age one to three had increased substantially, and numbers of such children injured in crashes had decreased by at least 17 percent. A second UMTRI assessment of the child-restraint law was completed in January, 1985, under sponsorship of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning. It analyzed six years of traffic crash data (1978-1983), including 21 months of experience under the child-restraint law. This article briefly reviews the main findings of that study. Time-series analyses of Michigan traffic crash data show that the 1982 Michigan child-restraint law has increased the percentage of young children restrained (from 12 to 51 percent) and reduced by 25 percent the number of young children injured.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/9187496
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute

  2901 Baxter Road
  Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109-2150
• Publication Date: 1985-1

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 15 p.
• Serial:
  • UMTRI Research Review
  • Volume: 15
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
  • ISSN: 0739-7100

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Child restraint systems; Data analysis; Laws; Mathematical analysis; Measures of effectiveness; Time series analysis
• Uncontrolled Terms: Effectiveness
• Geographic Terms: Michigan
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00399087
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-038 794
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Sep 30 1985 12:00AM