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A recent MU study finds
that child safety seats could be more effective with stronger
laws.
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Child
Restraint Laws Save Lives
By Jeremy Diener
Child safety seats and safety seat laws are
saving the lives of our children, but more could be saved with
enhanced laws, according to a study conducted by a researcher
at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The study indicates that
for each year child safety seat laws have been in place, young
child fatalities in motor vehicle accidents have been reduced
by 18 percent.
“These findings indicate that child
safety seat laws are effective in encouraging adults to place
young children in safety seats while they are passengers in motor
vehicles,” said Lilliard Richardson, associate professor
at MU’s Truman
School of Public Affairs. “From a substantive perspective,
these laws have saved young lives.”
However, while the study proves that child
safety laws are saving the lives of young children, Richardson
notes that although all states have implemented child restraint
laws, the statutes from state to state vary considerably in their
coverage. By strengthening these statutes, more lives could be
saved.
“Child safety seat laws are effective
tools for increasing the safety of young motor vehicle occupants,”
Richardson said. “To further enhance the safety of these
young passengers, it is recommended that state statutes be amended
to expand their coverage.”
For example, the results of the study suggests
that the higher the age of the children covered by a child safety
seat law, the more lives that are saved. Each additional year
of age that is covered lowers fatalities by about 4.8 percent,
according to Richardson.
“The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that
states require safety seats to be used by children under 4 years
of age, but our results suggest that child safety would be further
enhanced by expanding coverage beyond this limit,” Richardson
said. “Massachusetts serves as a model for other states
as it has a statute that requires all children under six years
of age to be placed in a child safety seat while passengers in
a motor vehicle, permitting no substitution of a seat belt in
place of a safety seat.”
According to the National
Safety Council, injuries remain the leading cause of death
among children in the United States, with motor vehicle accidents
being the most common source of these injury deaths. Since 1975,
more than 15,000 children ages 0 to 5 have died as occupants in
motor vehicle crashes in the nation. According to the NHTSA, there
were 459 passenger vehicle occupant fatalities among children
under 5 years of age in 2002. Of those 459 fatalities, an estimated
185, or 40 percent, were totally unrestrained.
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Last Update:
March 12, 2007
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