MEDIA BACKGROUNDER
STATISTICS –CHILDREN’S SAFETY IN VEHICLES
Every
year, about 10,000 children 12 or under are injured, some of them fatally, in
traffic collisions in Canada. Surveys show that as many as one third of
Canadian children are not properly restrained when they're traveling in motor
vehicles.
The
only way to protect children from the dangers of collisions or sudden stops is
to restrain them properly.
Transport
Canada
http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/tp/tp13511/intro.htm
A 1997 survey conducted by Transport
Canada showed that 85.6% of Canadian children surveyed were using appropriate
types of restraints. Estimated correct use of restraints for children under
five years of age was only 76.1%. Inspection clinics held across the country
are recording higher misuse rates of 80 to 100%.
Using
a child car seat is just the first step to ensuring a child's safety in
automobiles. The seat must be used correctly on every trip. Missed steps in
attaching harnessing around the child or securing the seat with the vehicle's
seat belt can reduce the effectiveness of the seat and may not provide optimum
protection for your child.
CAA
http://www.caa.ca/e/news-issues/child-safety.shtml
The correct use of a
child restraint on every trip can prevent 70 per cent of crash-related deaths
and serious injuries to child passengers. However, roadside checks find only
51.6 per cent of children buckled up at all. During 2002, Buckle Up Bears
clinics found that less than 20 per cent of all car seats checked were
correctly installed.
Canada Safety
Council
In a study conducted at
the University of Windsor, presented in 2004, researchers determined the type
of errors and the percentage of child seats incorrectly installed for both
forward and rear facing child seats.
Forward
Facing Seat Installation Errors
>
80% installed incorrectly
Common
errors include:
Rear
facing Seat Installation Errors
67%
installed incorrectly
Common
errors include:
A Biomechanical Evaluation of
Child Safety Seat Installation. Sarno, S., Fox, M and Potvin, J. Ontario
Biomechanical Conference Abstracts, 2004.
Child safety seats,
property installed and used, save children’s lives. Proper use of a child
safety seat can reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent
for toddlers. Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of unintentional
injury-related death among children ages 14 and under. Child safety seats and
safety belts, when installed and used correctly, can prevent injuries and save
lives. Unrestrained children are more likely to be injured, suffer sever
injuries and die in motor vehicle crashes than children who are restrained.
75% of motor vehicle crashes occur within 25 miles of home. In addition, 60%
of crashes occur on roads with posted speed limits of 40 mph or less.
Vancouver
Fire and Rescue Services
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/fire/spec_event/child_safety_seat.html
The National
Occupant Restraint Program reported 14 deaths and 1,506 injuries for children
ages 0-4 who were riding in motor vehicles in 2003. Only 62% were restrained.
2003
NORP (National Occupant Restraint Program 2010),
Annual Monitoring Report, June 2004
http://www.ccmta.ca/english/norp/pdf/norp_report03.pdf
Less than 10 per cent of child safety seats in use
throughout British Columbia are properly installed, according to data
collected in recent inspections.
The
British Columbia Automobile Association released the results of its child seat
inspections on April 16, 2004. Out of 1,000 inspections conducted since
September 2001, only 7% of seats were found to be installed or used correctly.
The
most common faults found in the inspections were:
-
Child
seat not tightly secured in the vehicle (47%)
-
Child
seat not securely fastened in the seat (28%)
-
Tethers
not used correctly, or used at all (17%)
-
Shoulder
harness placed in the incorrect slot of the child seat (12 %)
-
Child
in the incorrect seat for his/her weight, height and age (4%)
British
Columbia Automobile Association
http://autonet.ca/Maintenance/Accessories/Story.cfm?story=/Maintenance/Accessories/2004/05/31/480502.html
A study conducted by
Campbell et al at the University of Edinburgh studying 596 occupants in 180
cars found that 95% of passengers in the front seat and 77% of rear passengers
were restrained. However 7% of adults and 28% of children were not properly
secured. Loose seat belts and
improperly secured restraints were the most common errors. The highest rate of
incorrect use was for child seats with 60% of two way and 44% of rear facing
seats not properly used.
Campbell H, Macdonald F, Richardson P, High levels of incorrect use of
car seat belts and child restraints in Fife – an important and
under-recognized road safety issue. Inj Prev 1997:3 (1):17-22.
In a study conducted
in the United States in 1997 proper child safety seat use was found to be
20.5%. Children weighing 9 to 18 kg were properly restrained only 18.9% of the
time.
Decina
LE, Knoebel KY.Child safety seat misuse patterns in four states.
Scientex Corporation, Kulpsville, PA 19443, USA., Accid Anal Prev. 1997
Jan;29(1):125-32.
In a Michigan analysis
of child safety seat use some degree of seat misuse was found in 88.5% of
inspections. The most common types were related to snugness of fit (both in
installing the seat into the vehicle and in securing the child), use of the
safety belt locking clip, and the harness-positioning clip.
Eby
DW, Kostyniuk LP, A statewide analysis of child safety seat use and misuse in Michigan. Accid
Anal Prev.
1999 Sep;31(5):555-66. The University of Michigan, Transportation Research
Institute, Ann Arbor 48109-2150, USA.
In
a University of Carolina study 55% of children were in child restraint but 63%
were incorrectly restrained.
Margolis
LH, Wagenaar AC, Molnar LJ. Use and misuse of automobile child restraint
devices. Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599. Vol 146, No 3, March 1992 Archives
of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
