Child Car and Bus Safety: Beyond Seat Belts and Safety Seats
Nov. 11, 1999 (Chicago) -- Buckles and car seats aren't enough to ensure that children are riding safely, according to a panel at the 127th annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. The child restraint needs to be appropriate for the child's age and size. Seat belts need to be tight enough, and any child safety seat needs to be properly installed and anchored.
In order to get the word out and to assess children's safety in cars and school buses, several groups are forming campaigns in partnership with automobile manufacturers and insurance companies. Others are collaborating with insurance companies to learn from accidents involving child passengers.
"It's encouraging to see automobile manufacturers and insurance companies becoming involved in these campaigns," moderator Maria E. Vegega, PhD, tells WebMD. Vegega is affiliated with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in Washington.
For example, General Motors is a sponsor of the National Safe Kids Campaign, says Angela D. Mickalide, PhD, the campaign's program director. One of the activities of this campaign is an educational outreach, which teaches parents the proper technique of buckling up for older children and of selecting the proper safety seat for younger children, and how to install it into the car.
In another example, State Farm is helping to fund a study that is being conducted by Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. Esha Bhatia, one of the investigators, says that the study is conducting follow-ups of insurance claims made to State Farm on motor vehicle accidents involving child passengers; the investigators are studying accidents in 15 states and Washington, D.C. "We have found that preschool children are three to four times as likely to be injured if they are only buckled up, rather than in car seats," says Bhatia. "Head injuries are more likely to occur, also, if the car seat harness is too loose, or with older children, if they are not buckled tightly enough."
Despite the sensational attention given to school bus accidents, "school buses are the safest way to get kids to school," Dianne Wigle, MPA, tells WebMD. "For preschool children who are transported to Head Start or day care in a school bus, child safety seats are necessary." Wigle is also on staff at the NHTSA.