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First
Child Passenger Safety Fact & Trend Report
Stop
if this fact-based story sounds familiar…It's
a run-of-the-mill Saturday morning for the Smith
family. Mom buckles 7-year-old Billy in the front
seat of the family car, thinking: "why bother
with his booster seat to simply go to the local
market?"
This can be a common Saturday scenario for thousands
of families… and so can the automobile collision
that may occur.
The first Partners for Child Passenger Safety
Fact and Trend Report, released today, presents
recent child passenger safety findings from an
ongoing research collaboration between The Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance
Companies®. The report, based on confidential
interviews provided by State Farm customers, unearths
a startling fact: most motor vehicle crashes that
involve children happen where parents feel safest
- during everyday routines on local roads.
"Everyone has seen horrific highway crashes
on the local evening news, but few may consider
the simple fact that the majority of crashes involving
children occur on local roads and in parking lots,"
states Flaura Winston, M.D., Ph.D., principal
investigator of the Children's Hospital/State
Farm report. "Parents must remain vigilant
about child passenger safety at all times, using
age-appropriate seating and restraints for children
12 and younger. No one is immune from a car crash."
Crash Course on Auto Accidents Involving Children
Motor vehicle crashes can happen to anyone, any
time, anywhere. Tapping into the largest source
of data on children in motor vehicle crashes,
the PCPS Fact and Trend Report identifies characteristics
of crashes involving children. Did you know:
- 80% of crashes took place 20 minutes or less
from home
- Nearly 75% of crashes happen between 10 a.m.
and 8 p.m.
- More than half of crashes occur at speeds less
than 45 MPH
- Only 35% of crashes took place at an intersection
While motor vehicle crashes are the leading killer
of children older than age one in the United States,
parents can take precautionary, life-saving measures
to ensure safe transport of their children. Following
the guidelines for age- and size-appropriate restraint
can reduce the risk of serious injury by more
than three times, according to previously published
research from PCPS. And, the combination of rear
seating (children age 12 and younger) and restraint
use reduces the risk of injury to less than two
percent.
"The PCPS Fact and Trend Report serves as
a stark reminder that motor vehicle crashes do
happen under common and familiar conditions, giving
us reasons to constantly put into practice our
knowledge of age-appropriate seating and restraints,"
says Susan Hood, vice president of claims, State
Farm. "Parents must act daily to protect
their child, meaning it's their responsibility
to guarantee their child's safety for every car
ride. It could save a child's life. It could save
their child's life."
About Partners for Child Passenger
Safety
Partners for Child Passenger Safety is a research
collaboration between The Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia and State Farm. As of February
2005, PCPS has created a database containing information
on more than 377,000 crashes involving more than
557,000 children from birth through age 15 years.
It is the largest source of data on children in
motor vehicle crashes.
(Source:
State
Farm)
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