North Carolina Child Restraint Program: Progress Report on Education and Distribution Activities

Each year in North Carolina, traffic accidents claim the lives of 20-30 children aged less than six. In addition, hundreds more children are seriously injured, sometimes permanently. In an effort to alleviate this problem, the North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program (GHSP), the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC) and other concerned groups have been involved since October 1977 in various programs aimed at educating parents of the problems inherent in transporting children in cars and of the need to protect their children with crash-tested safety seats and seat belts. Recommendations for improving this educational program made in previous GHSP/HSRC project reports and in the current contract call for (1) improvements in the overall coordination of the program, (2) expansion of educational, distribution, and legislative activities, (3) inputs from out-of-state child safety programs, (4) improved coordination between involved state agencies, and (5) building flexibility into the program such that individual needs of localities can be met. A formalized plan has been implemented which is allowing GHSP/HSRC to achieve these goals by providing for successful interaction with all other state and local agencies who are becoming involved in the child safety area. Stated goals are for the most part being met primarily because all programs are being run through one central agency, the Governor's Highway Safety Program, and because one agency, the Highway Safety Research Center, is primarily responsible for coordinating the implementation of these programs. This report details the specific tasks implemented in each of the major areas of effort--health care and public education, local loaner programs, county programs involving foster children, and developing potential community-based support for possible legislation. Analysis of accident data from police reports and fatality data from the Office of the Medical Examiner indicate a slight increase in restraint usage (from approximately 5% to 7%) and a slight decrease in annual fatalities. These positive changes continue to be linked with a very disturbing large difference in usage rates between infants and toddlers. Additional findings reinforce the benefits gained from usage of conventional lap and shoulder belts when a child restraint device is not available. Finally, recommendations related to future N.C. efforts are provided with emphasis on the need to continue to expand the program on all fronts while insuring local community inputs to the planning process and direct participation in the program.

• Record URL:
  http://www.hsrc.unc.edu/research_library/bibliography_pre1990.cfm
• Corporate Authors:

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  Highway Safety Research Center
  Chapel Hill, NC  United States  27599
• Authors:
  • Council, Forrest M
  • Hall, William L
  • Orr, Beverly T
  • Trinkoff, Alison M
  • Daniel, Robert B
• Publication Date: 1980-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 105p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Child restraint systems; Children; Countermeasures; Highway safety; Safety programs; Traffic safety; Traffic safety education; Utilization
• Geographic Terms: North Carolina
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01115413
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UNC/HSRC-80/12/1
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 25 2008 7:33AM