Child Restraints and Safety Belts
Public Awareness
Child restraint device use is largely a matter of public awareness. Many children killed in car crashes would have survived if they were restrained properly. Not surprisingly, there is a correlation between the use of driver safety belts and child restraints. NCSA reports that 92 percent of buckled drivers restrain child passengers, while only 72 percent of unbuckled drivers restrain children passengers.9
Impaired drivers are particularly problematic. One study reports that only about 30 percent
of children killed while riding with impaired drivers were properly restrained at the time of
the crash.10
9 D. Glassbrenner, The Use of Child Restraints in 2002, NHTSA Research Note, DOT HS 809 555, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, February 2003.
10 “Characteristics of Child Passenger Deaths and Injuries Involving Drinking Drivers,” 283 Journal of the American Medical Association 3 (May 2000); “Child Passenger Deaths Involving Drinking Drivers – United States 1997-2002,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, February 6, 2004.