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Car Seats and Safety Belts Misused With Most Children

22 May 2000

Study by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Shows That Car Seats and Safety Belts Misused With Most Children

    ROHNERT PARK, Calif. - Parents and caregivers are doing a better job of 
restraining children, yet an overwhelming number of children continue to be 
inappropriately restrained in vehicles.  These findings from The Children's 
Hospital of Philadelphia are being released today as part of an interim report 
on Partners For Child Passenger Safety, a multi-year collaborative research 
study that also involves the University of Pennsylvania and State Farm 
Insurance Companies.

    Unprecedented in size and scope, the study currently in its fourth year,
is the first comprehensive investigation of how and why children are killed in
motor vehicle crashes.  "Unfortunately, auto accidents continue to be the
leading cause of death and acquired disability in children over the age of one
in this country," says Flaura K. Winston, M.D., Ph.D., principle investigator
of the Partners For Child Passenger Safety study.


    Other findings from the study include:

    -- Thirty percent of infants are incorrectly turned forward facing in
       their car seat before one year of age.
    -- Eighty-three percent of children ages four to eight are inappropriately
       graduated to adult seat belts.
    -- Sixteen percent of children age 12 and under continue to ride in the
       front seat despite statistics that show this age group should ride in
       the back.
    -- Eighty-two percent of car seats are misused in some way.
    -- Children who ride unrestrained are three times more likely to sustain a
       significant injury in an automobile crash.
    -- Sixty-four percent of significant auto injuries suffered by children
       are to the head.

    Data for this study comes from several sources including crash database
analysis, in-depth telephone interviews, on-site crash investigations and
computer crash simulations.  State Farm, the nation's largest auto insurer,
has provided a great deal of information from their claim files.  "Each day,
State Farm shares claims data on nearly 200 children of policyholders who
consented to participate in this study," says John Werner, assistant director
of strategic resources at State Farm.  "By funding Partners For Child
Passenger Safety, State Farm is taking an active role in making it as safe as
possible for children to ride in automobiles."

    The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the nation's first children's
hospital, is a world-renowned leader in patient care, education and research.