Report to the NC Child Fatality Task Force: Injury Experience of Children and Adolescents in North Carolina Motor Vehicle Crashes

摘要

The following conclusions are drawn based on this analysis of 0-15 year-old children involved in North Carolina crashes: The North Carolina Child Passenger Safety and Seat Belt Laws, along with associated public information and education efforts, have resulted in large increases in restraint use; Average fatal plus serious (K+A) injury rates for children involved in crashes during the time period covered by these restraint laws (since July, 1982) have declined. Mirroring decreasing levels of restraint use as age increases, the youngest children, 0-1 year-olds, have experienced the greatest decline in injury rates while older children have experienced reduced benefits. North Carolina's Child Passenger Safety and Seat Belt Laws have been beneficial to North Carolina children, but could provide greater benefits to older children by expanding the age range covered in the rear seat and by removing major exemptions that exclude otherwise covered children.