EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The 1998 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey (MVOSS) was the third in a series of biennial national telephone surveys on occupant protection issues conducted for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data collection was conducted by the firm Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas, Inc. (SRBI), a national survey research organization. The survey employed two questionnaires, each administered to a randomly selected national sample of approximately 4,000 persons age 16 and older (with younger ages oversampled). Interviewing began November 5, 1998 and ended January 12, 1999.

This report presents the survey findings pertaining to child restraints and child occupant protection. The data are weighted to yield national estimates. Readers are cautioned that some subgroup analyses are based on small numbers of cases. Technical information on confidence intervals is presented in Appendix A so that readers may judge the precision of sample estimates. A full description of the methodology, and the questionnaires, are presented in a separate report.

Seating Position Of Children Age 12 And Younger

• Usual Seating Location Of Children Age 12 And Younger. For safety reasons, NHTSA and other organizations maintain that children age 12 and younger should ride in the back seat of the motor vehicle. Among drivers who lived with one or more children in this age range, most indicated that the youngest child typically rode in the back when riding with them, with 48% saying the child never rode in the front seat in the past 30 days and 15% claiming it occurred just a few times. Children were more likely to sit in the front seat if the respondent had fewer years of formal education, the child was older, and there was no air bag in the respondent's primary vehicle.

• Change From A Year Ago In Youngest Child's Seating Position. About half (51%) of the children age 12 and younger were said to be less likely now than a year ago to ride in the front seat. Another 23% were thought to be just as likely to ride in the front while 19% were considered more likely to ride in the front. Those most likely to report a shift toward the back seat included Hispanics (63%), urban residents (59%), those having passenger side air bags in their primary vehicle (59%), and those referring to younger children (69% for ages 1 to 3).

• Reasons Why A Child Is More/Less Likely To Ride Up Front. The most frequently given reasons why children were more likely to ride up front were that the child preferred the front (41%) and there was no other place for the child (22%). The most frequently given reasons why children were less likely to ride up front were that it was safer in back (59%) and the danger from air bags (21%).

Transporters of Young Children Under Age 6

• Driving A Young Child Not In Household. Forty-four percent of all drivers had in the past year driven a motor vehicle with a child under the age of 6 as a passenger, but most of these (28%) did not actually live with a child in that age range. If drivers had transported children under age 6 but did not live with anyone in that age range, their frequency of driving young children tended to be low: 52% said they did this only a few days a year and 29% said they did it a few days a month.

• Relationship To Young Child Not In Household (Drivers Who Did Not Live With A Young Child). Most often, the driver transporting a child not living in the household was a grandparent (40%). When asked the frequency that they drove young children, grandparents tended to report a greater amount compared to other relatives.

1998 Car/Booster Seat Use

• Parent/Caregiver Analytic Group. The survey selected a subgroup of drivers to ask detailed questions about children's use of car seats, designated “parents/caregivers.” These were: (a) parents of children under age 6 (usually parents living with the child, but a few cases of parents not living with the child but who drove the child at least on occasion in the past year), and (b) non-parents living with children under age 6 who at least on occasion drove with them.

• Frequency Of Car Seat Use. Parents/caregivers usually said either that the selected child used a car seat “all of the time” (71%) or else never used a car seat (22%). If the child never used a car seat, it usually was because the child had graduated to seat belt use. Virtually all infants reportedly used car seats “all of the time” if they weighed under 20 pounds (99%) or were under 2 years old (98%). Discontinuation of car seat use by most children occurred when the child reached 3 or 4 years of age and exceeded 40 pounds.

• Type Of Car Seat By Age. Infants who have not reached their first birthday should always ride in a rear facing position in a car seat regardless of the child's size. Most infants who used car seats (58%) did indeed ride in a rear facing position. But about one-third (32%) rode in a front facing position in a toddler seat, with another 10% in booster seats. Front facing toddler seats predominated among one-year-olds (87%) and two-year-olds (78%). Booster seats accounted for 18% of car seat users among two-year-olds, then more than doubled to 39% at age 3. Booster seats increased as a percentage of car seat users at ages 4 and 5, though far fewer children rode in car seats at those ages.

• Type Of Car Seat By Weight. Slightly more than two-thirds (69%) of children weighing less than 20 pounds rode in a rear facing position. A portion (14%) appeared to be using booster seats, although at least some respondents may have made mistakes in describing the seat. Others (17%) provided information suggesting that the child usually rode front facing in a toddler seat. Front facing toddler seats predominated at 20 to 39 pounds. Past 40 pounds, there was a relatively close split between children in booster seats (the majority) and those in front facing toddler seats.

• Usual Location In Vehicle Where Child's Car Seat Is Placed. The vast majority of parents/caregivers (90%) stated that the child usually sat in the back when riding in a car seat in a vehicle they were driving. This was true regardless of whether the child was riding in a rear-facing infant seat (89%), a front-facing toddler seat (92%), or a booster seat (86%). If there was a passenger side air bag in the respondent's primary vehicle, then 95% of children in car seats rode in the back.

• Safest Perceived Location To Place A Child's Car Seat. Among parents/caregivers who drove a child that used a car seat, almost all (98%) considered the back seat the safest location to place a child car seat in a vehicle. One percent incorrectly believed that the front seat was safest. The 1% who thought the front seat was safest contrasts with the 9% who said that the child car seat was usually in the front seat when they drove.

• Child Car Seats In Vehicles With Air Bags. Parents/caregivers who drove a child that used a car seat were asked if they thought it was safe to place a rear-facing car seat in the front seat of a vehicle having a front passenger air bag. The correct answer is no, because it could place the child in the air bag's path, with the force of impact being too great for the child. Most parents/caregivers (92%) said it was unsafe while 4% considered it safe.

• Acquisition Of Car Seat. Most car seats (85%) were obtained new; about one-in-seven (14%) were acquired used. More than two-thirds of car seats (68%) were purchased, while 27% were acquired as a gift or loaner from a relative or friend.

• Sources For Information. Of several information sources read by the interviewers, the parents/caregivers who drove a child that used a car seat most often said that they had heard about the need to use car seats from tv or radio (65%) or from books or articles on child care (61%).

• Ease Of Attaching Car Seat To Vehicle. Parents and caregivers reported that they had relatively little difficulty installing their children's car seats regardless of the type of seat. Overall, seven-out-of-ten respondents (71%) said it was very easy to attach the car seat to the vehicle they usually drove; 23% considered it somewhat easy. However, 25% of parents/caregivers acknowledged that they had at some time in the past driven with the child in the car seat and later found that the car seat was not securely attached. Most often, the respondents said that they learned how to attach the child car seat to the vehicle by reading the instructions (75%).

• Ease Of Buckling Child In Car Seat. As with installing the car seat in the vehicle, most caregivers considered it easy to properly buckle the child into the car seat. Almost all parents/caregivers answered either that it was very easy (74%) or somewhat easy (23%). The percentage who considered it very easy was essentially the same across type of seat.

• Frequency That Persons Outside Household Drive Child Who Uses Car Seat. Parents/caregivers who lived with a child that used a car seat were asked if the child had ridden in a vehicle driven by someone outside the household in the past month. More than two-out-of-five (44%) answered that this had occurred. As expected, the children were transported on a far less regular basis by non-household members compared to the parent/caregiver who lived with the child. When asked the identity of the driver outside the household who transported the child in the past 30 days, the parents/caregivers most often answered that it was a grandparent (37%) or a parent/step-parent (37%).

Reasons For Non-Use Of Car Seats

• Children Who Use Car Seats, But Not All The Time. The reasons most frequently mentioned for non-use of car seats among part time users were that the child did not like the seat (31%), the seat was not available (30%), and the child was only going to be in the car a short time (29%). Most children who were part time car seat users wore a seat belt when they were not in their car seat. Sixty-nine percent reportedly used the seat belt all of the time when not in the car seat, and 11% used it most of the time.

• Children Who Never Use Car Seats. The children who never used car seats were mostly larger children. About three-fourths (76%) were 40 pounds or heavier. Most of the remaining children (20%) were 30 to 39 pounds. When asked the reason why the child never uses a car seat, the respondents usually answered that it was because the child was too big (84%) and was using a seat belt (94%). The vast majority of children who never used car seats reportedly wore a seat belt all (92%) or most of the time (5%) when riding in motor vehicles.

Booster Seat Issues

• Awareness Of Booster Seats. Safety professionals recommend that children approximately 40 to 80 pounds use booster seats. However, the survey data showed that these children often use seat belts instead. One question is whether people are aware of booster seats. Those considered most likely to have heard of them would be the parent/caregiver group. Yet while the majority (76%) stated that they were aware of booster seats, 21% said they had not heard of them and 3% were unsure. Of those who were aware of booster seats, 53% said they had used them at some time when driving their child(ren). The most frequent age at which parents/caregivers started using booster seats with their child(ren) was age three (40%).

• Concerns About Booster Seats. Among the 76% of parents/caregivers who had seen or heard of booster seats, almost one-third (30%) had concerns about their safety and another 7% were unsure. Fewer than half of all parents/caregivers (48%) could say that they were aware of booster seats, and had no concerns about their safety.

• Expected Restraint System After Outgrowing Current Seat. If the designated child in the survey at least on occasion rode in a child safety seat, then the interviewers asked the respondents if they expected the child to use “a different type of car seat, a seat belt, or something else” after outgrowing the current seat. In general, children in rear facing seats were expected to move on to other safety seats, although 14% expected the child to use seat belts. Expectations became more varied with front facing safety seats, as slightly more than half (55%) said that the child would use a different seat or booster seat while 43% either answered that the child would graduate to seat belts or else that they did not know what would happen.

Attitudes Toward Enforcement Of Child Restraint Laws

• Support For Enforcement. The public (age 16 and older) favors stringent enforcement of car seat laws. Three-in-five persons (60%) believed that the police should issue a ticket at every opportunity.

• Preferred Amount Of Fine. Regardless of their attitude about police enforcement of child car seat laws, respondents age 16 and older were asked what they thought the minimum fine should be for violation of the laws. A majority (56%) believed the fine should be $50 or more; almost one-third (32%) favored a fine of $100 or more.

• Legal Requirements For Children Who Outgrow Car Seats. Ninety-four percent of persons age 16 and older agreed that children should be required by law to wear seat belts once they have outgrown car seats, while 3% disagreed. Those respondents who agreed that children should be required to wear seat belts after outgrowing car seats, or said it depended on the child's age, were asked if there was an upper age limit beyond which children should not be required to wear seat belts. The vast majority (85%) rejected the notion of an upper age limit by saying that seat belt use should be required for all children (which equated to 81% of the total population age 16 and older).

Results From The Buckle Up America Surveys

• Confidence In Knowing How To Protect A Child. Of particular relevance to this report are results from several questions introduced in the most recent Buckle Up America Surveys conducted for NHTSA. Respondents were read the statement “I feel I know everything that is important to know about how to protect a [CHILD] riding in a motor vehicle.” The statement was read four times, each time specifying a specific age range for the child. Most persons believed they knew everything they needed to know regardless of the child's age, although the proportion who felt confident declined as the age range of the child became younger.

• Child Protection Information Perceived As Useful. The interviewers next asked if there was any particular type of information the respondents would find helpful on how to protect a child in a motor vehicle. Between one-fourth and one-third of all persons age 16 and older would find child protection information helpful. Particular types of information perceived as helpful included information on proper use of child safety seats, correct installation of child safety seats, seat belt safety, and child safety tips. Pamphlets and booklets also were mentioned.

• Preferred Sources For Receiving Child Protection Information. Departments of Motor Vehicles led all other locations as the preferred source for receiving child protection information, followed by police departments, direct mail, WEB sites, and television.

Trends (1994-1998)

• Car Seat Use. The proportion of parents/caregivers who said that the selected child (under age 6) “always” uses a car seat increased from 59% in 1994 to 71% in 1998. Conversely, children in that age range who never use a car seat decreased from 29% in 1994 to 22% in 1998.

• Placement Of Child's Car Seat. Children riding in car seats increasingly are being placed in the back. While 78% reportedly rode in the back seat in 1994, the figure rose to 85% in 1996 and then 90% in 1998.

• Safest Perceived Location For A Car Seat. Whereas 91% of parents/caregivers in 1994 knew that the back seat was the safest location to place a child car seat in the vehicle, the figure rose to 97% in 1996 and 98% in 1998.

• Child Car Seats In Vehicles With Air Bags. In recent years, far more people have become aware of the danger of placing a rear facing infant seat in the front seat of a vehicle having a passenger side air bag. Whereas only 56% of parents/caregivers in 1994 knew that this was an unsafe action, 88% considered it unsafe in 1996 and 92% considered it unsafe in 1998.

• Reasons For Non-Use Of Car Seats. In 1998, parents/caregivers were less prone than in previous years to attribute occasional non-use of a car seat by the child to the shortness of the trip, being in a hurry, and the child not liking the car seat. Unavailability of the car seat became the second most frequently cited reason for non-use among part time users. Those children under age 6 who never used car seats generally were viewed as too big for the seats and had been moved to seat belts. This finding was consistent across survey years.

• Expected Restraint System After Outgrowing Current Seat. The data suggested that parents/caregivers were more likely in 1998 than in 1996 to consider adding intermediate steps (i.e., graduating to another car seat) for older children before having them move to seat belt use.

• Support For Enforcement. In 1998, 60% of the public believed that police should give a ticket at every opportunity for violations of car seat laws. This compared to 53% in 1996 and 58% in 1994.

• Legal Requirements For Children Who Outgrow Car Seats. In each survey year, 94% of the public agreed that children who have outgrown child car seats should be required by law to wear seat belts when riding in a motor vehicle.

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