THE INTRODUCTION OF CHILD SAFETY SEAT LEGISLATION IN VIRGINIA: TYPES AND LEVELS OF COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND EFFECTS ON AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT STATISTICS. FINAL REPORT

In 1983 Virginia legislated child safety seat use for children under four years of age riding in motor vehicles. This project explored two major issues: legislative impact on changes in accident statistics for the year immediately following legislation, and community responses to such legislation. The analysis of accident statistics determined changes in death and injury rates for the target age group versus all age groups state-wide and regionally, and explored accident characteristics and correlates for young children injured in accidents. The analysis of community response involved a case study of support programs developed through one community's hospital task force, and a framework for measuring differential community reponses to such a mandate. Vehicular casualty rates for children 0-4 dropped 16.5% while rising 15.8% for all age groups from 1982 to 1983, a pattern consistent across substate regions. The rate of young children injured in vehicle accidents but protected by child safety seats rose 71.6% (to 24.2%) over the same period. A case study of the documentation and cross-validated evaluation data from one Virginia community illustrates an effective hospital/community response to legislative change. A conceptual framework for measuring community support for child safety seats is presented.

• Corporate Authors:

  Hampton Institute

  Bureau of Business and Economic Research
  Hampton, VA  United States  23668

  Department of Transportation

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Montague, R B
• Publication Date: 1984-9

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 95 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Case studies; Child restraint systems; Communities; Crashes; Fatalities; Hospitals; Impact studies; Infants; Injuries; Legislation; Public relations; Statistics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Community support
• Geographic Terms: Virginia
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; I10: Economics and Administration; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00495611
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: DOT/OST/P-34/85/024, HS-039 495
• Contract Numbers: DTRS5683-C-00034
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 31 1990 12:00AM