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PASSENGER VEHICLE CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS: FACTORS INFLUENCING THEIR USAGE AND NONUSAGE

The four purposes of this study were: (1) to identify common reasons for usage of child restraints, (2) to identify common reasons for nonusage of child restraints, (3) to identify actions which would influence the nonuser to begin using a child restraint, and (4) to determine if selected demographic variables could predict usage or nonusage of child restraints. The literature search substantiated the lack of research identifying reasons for usage and nonusage of child restraints. In addition, no study was undertaken rendering factors which would influence the nonuser to begin using child restraints. Three areas were reviewed in the related literature search. They were occupant restraint effectiveness, occupant restraint usage, and factors associated with use of occupant restraints. A child car seat questionnaire was administered to 150 mothers or mother substitutes who had at least one child four years of age or under. The subjects were from DuQuoin, Illinois. Descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages and means, were used to compare reported information in the questionnaire. Two inferential tests, ANOVA and multiple regression, were used to identify the demographic variables with the highest probability for predicting usage and nonusage of child restraints. The following is a brief summary of the results: (1) The most important reason given for using child car seats was for the protection they provided the child in a collision, and the user group indicated minimal difficulty in the use of child car seats; (2) The most important reason reported for nonusage was the unwillingness of the child to sit in a car seat; (3) The enactment of a mandatory child car seat law was identified as the action which would have the greatest influence on the nonuser to start using a child car seat; (4) The most common behavior exhibited by the unrestrained child while riding in a moving vehicle was sitting in the front seat; (5) The mother's and mate's employment status was found to be significant predictor at the .05 level for every user group; and (6) The present use group's level of education for both the mother and mate was a significant predictor at the .05 level of significance.

  • Corporate Authors:

    Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

    Department of Health Education
    Carbondale, IL  United States  62901
  • Authors:
    • Depue, L
  • Publication Date: 1983

Media Info

  • Features: Appendices; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 148 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00450361
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  • Report/Paper Numbers: Dissertatn, HS-038 876
  • Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
  • Created Date: Nov 30 1985 12:00AM