Effectiveness of Michigan's Mandatory Child Restraint Law: Three Year Follow-Up

摘要

On April 1, 1982, Michigan implemented a law mandating the use of child restraint devices for children under age 4 traveling in automobiles. The study measured the effects of that law on restraint use and injury rates among young children. Major dimensions of the study design include: (1) examination of multiple comparison age groups; (2) controls for exposure to risk of crash injury through analyses of injury rates based on population, number of crashed vehicles, and vehicle miles traveled; and (3) controls for longitudinal patterns in injury rates using Box-Jenkins intervention models. Data on all police-reported crash-involved motorists in Michigan between January 1978 and December 1984 were examined. Injury reductions were largely due to declines in moderate injuries; severe injuries did not decline significantly after the child restraint law was implemented.