Citation

Sauber-Schatz EK, West BA, Bergen G. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 2014; 63(5): 113-118.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, (in public domain), Publisher U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

24500292

Abstract

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among children in the United States. Child safety seat (CSS) use reduces the risk for death to infants (aged <1 year) by 71%; and to toddlers (aged 1-4 years) by 54% in passenger vehicles. Booster seat use reduces the risk for serious injury by 45% for children aged 4-8 years when compared with seat belt use alone. For older children and adults, seat belt use reduces the risk for death and serious injury by approximately half. Based on this evidence, CDC recommends using age- and size-appropriate child restraints (including CSS and booster seats) in the back seat until adult seat belts fit properly (i.e., when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs, not the stomach; and the shoulder belt lays across the shoulder and chest, not the neck or face), which normally occurs after a child is at least age 8 years or ≥57 inches (145 cm) tall. The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends CSS laws and CSS distribution plus education programs based on strong evidence of their effectiveness for increasing restraint use and decreasing injuries and deaths to child passengers. Distribution plus education programs are also recommended in a more recent review for increasing restraint use. The purpose of this study was to explore data over the past decade on child motor vehicle occupant deaths, determine the proportion of unrestrained child deaths, and explore differences by age, sex, and race/ethnicity.

Language: en