Citation

Whyte T, Albanese B, Elkington J, Bilston L, Brown J. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020; 17(4): e1147.

Affiliation

Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Wallace Wurth Building, 18 High St, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph17041147

PMID

32059428

Abstract

Inappropriate or incorrect use of child restraints can influence crash injury outcome. This study examined the role of restraint factors in child passenger deaths and the effect of legislation requiring appropriate restraint systems up to 7 years old. Data for child (0-12 years) passenger deaths occurring in New South Wales (NSW) from 2007 to 2016 were collected by the child death review team including photographs, reports of in-depth crash investigation, witness reports and medical reports. Restraint use, type of restraint, appropriateness of the restraint for the age of the child and correctness of restraint use were examined. The primary contributor to death was determined in each case. Sixty-four child passengers died in NSW during the data period. Twenty-nine (29/64, 45%) were properly restrained. Thirteen children (13/64, 20%) were unrestrained. In 20 cases (20/64, 31%), children were using a restraint that was either inappropriate for their age (6) or not used correctly (14). Restraint factors were a primary contributor in 22 (22/64, 34%) child deaths. Compared to pre-legislation, appropriate restraint use was more common post-legislation (13/22. 59% vs. 30/42, 71%). However, incorrect use was also greater (3/22, 14% vs. 11/42, 26%). Interventions targeting increasing restraint use and reduction of common 'use' errors are needed to prevent further restraint factor-related deaths.

Language: en

Keywords

child restraint; crash; fatal; injury; misuse