PARENTS/CAREGIVERS REPORT 21 PERCENT OF CHILDREN AGES 4 THROUGH 8 USING BOOSTER SEATS
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducts a national telephone survey approximately every two years to monitor the public’s attitudes, knowledge, and self-reported behavior regarding safety belts, child safety seats, air bags, crash injury experience, and emergency medical services (EMS). The 2003 survey consisted of two questionnaires, each administered to a randomly selected sample of about 6,000 persons age 16 and older. Interviewing ran from January 8, 2003 to March 30, 2003. Volume 5 presents findings on child occupant protection.
Seating Position of Children Age 12 and Younger
- Among
drivers who lived with one or more children age 12 or
younger, most
indicated that the youngest child typically rode in
the back seat when
riding with them, with 63% saying the child never
rode in the front
seat in the past 30 days and 12% claiming it occurred
just a few times.
- Children were more likely to sit in the front seat if the child was older, if there was no frontal passenger air bag in the respondent’s primary vehicle, and if the respondent lived in a rural area.
Transporters of Children Under Age 9
- About
half (51%) of all drivers had driven a motor vehicle
in the past year
with a child under the age of 9 as a passenger, but
more than half
of these drivers did not actually live with a child
in that age range.
- Most often, the driver transporting a child not living in the household was a grandparent (43%).
Parents/Caregivers of Children
Under Age 9
The survey asked a detailed set of questions to parents
or other caregivers
of children under age 9 (see report for sample
definition).
- When asked
the frequency the subject child under age 9 uses a
car seat (including
booster seats), 60% of drivers said “all the
time” and
32% said “never.” The remainder either
gave a frequency
that was less than all the time (6%), said they never
drove the child
(1%), or were unsure or refused to respond (< 0.5%).
A small percentage
of those who said the child uses a car seat
subsequently reversed their
response.
- Children who did not use car seats were usually reported to be using safety belts; 95% of them “all the time” and 3% “most of the time.”
Children Under Age 9 Who Used Car Seats
- Most
infants (72%) rode rear facing in their car seats,
although 20% were
reported to be riding in a front facing position and
a few were possibly
using booster seats. Front facing child safety seats
predominated among
children ages 1 through 4. Booster seats accounted
for 13% of car seat
users among 3-year-olds then nearly tripled to 35% at
age 4. After
age 4, booster seats became the predominant child
restraint used, though
only a minority of children used a child restraint of
any type after
age 5.
- Ninety-four percent of the
parents/caregivers
usually had the child ride in the back seat when
riding in a car seat.
Almost all of the parents/caregivers (99%) knew
that the back seat
was the safest location to place a child car seat.
Most (92%) agreed
it was unsafe to place a rear facing car seat in
the front seat of
a vehicle having a passenger air bag.
- More than three-fifths (62%) of
the parents/caregivers considered it very easy to
attach the car seat
to the vehicle. Most often, respondents said they
learned how to attach
the child car seat to the vehicle by reading the
instructions (71%).
- Slightly
more than one-quarter of the parents/caregivers
(27%) of children
who used car seats had heard of LATCH. A few others
were aware there
had been a change in the way car seats are designed
to attach to vehicles,
but were unfamiliar with the term LATCH. About
one-quarter (26%)
of those who had heard of LATCH said they had used
the LATCH system.
A few expressed difficulties attaching LATCH car
seats to the motor
vehicle.
- Slightly
more than one-half (53%) of parents/guardians of
children using front
facing toddler seats reported that the seat had an
upper tether,
with 62% of them saying they used the tether on all
trips. Respondents
who did not use the tether on all trips most often
indicated it was
because there was no place in the vehicle to attach it
(50%).
- More than one-in-five (22%) of the parents/caregivers had gone to an inspection station to have a technician check if they were installing their child’s car seat correctly. Most found out about the station either from someone they knew (28%) or else through the major media: local paper (16%), television (10%), radio (9%). Twenty-one percent of those who went to a station indicated the technician found something wrong with how they attached the seat or buckled in their child. The percentage increased to 36% when the survey asked parents/caregivers if the technician suggested they do something differently in how they attach the seat.
Qx.
How did you find out about the car seat check you went
to?
Base: Said they had gone to an inspection station to
have someone check
how they were attaching the car seat.
Unweighted N=205
*Total exceeds 100% due to multiple
responses
- If the child did not use the child restraint on every single trip, the reasons most often given for non-use were that they would only be in the vehicle a short time (50%), the seat was unavailable (41%) and the child did not like the seat (34%).
Booster Seat Issues
Parents/caregivers of children under age 9, including
children who
weren’t
using child restraints, were asked a series of
questions about booster
seats.
- Based on the survey’s
operational definition
of booster seats, 21% of children ages 4 through 8 at
least on occasion
rode in a booster seat, and another 19% at least on
occasion rode in
front facing child safety seats.
- Most parents/caregivers (85%)
had heard
of booster seats, and 60% of those who were aware
of booster seats
also said they had used them at some time with
their child(ren).
About two-in-five (39%) of those who had used booster
seats said they
had started using the booster with
their
child(ren) before age 4.
- Among the parents/caregivers who had seen or heard of booster seats, 22% had concerns about their safety. These parents/caregivers criticized booster seats as loose fitting and unstable systems that would not adequately restrain the child in a crash.
Support for Enforcement
- The general public (age 16 and older) favored stringent enforcement of car seat laws, as 59% believed the police should issue a ticket at every opportunity. Just as many (59%) believed the fine should be $50 or more. More than one-third (36%) said the fine should be $100 or more.
How To Order
For a copy of 2003 Motor Vehicle Occupant
Safety
Survey (Volume 5: Child Safety Seat
Report) write to the Office of Research and
Technology,
NHTSA, NTI-130, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington DC
20590 or
send a fax to (202) 366-7096 or download www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
Alan
Block was the contract manager.
U.S. Department of
Transportation
National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration
400 Seventh Street, S.W. NTI-130
Washington, DC 20590
Traffic Tech is a publication to disseminate information about traffic safety programs, including evaluations, innovative programs, and new publications. Feel free to copy it as you wish.
If you would like to receive a copy, contact Patty
Ellison-Potter. Ph.D.,
Editor,
fax (202)366-7096,
e-mail: Patricia.Ellison-Potter@nhtsa.dot.gov