Child safety seats more effective than shoulder belts.

Although common practice, and for many of us common sense, the use of child safety seats had been recently called into question for children 2 to 6 years of age. A recent article in the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine reviewed this topic. They found (big surprise) that safety seats do indeed save lives.

clipped from www.aafp.org Studies have shown that safety seats are more effective than lap-shoulder seat belts in reducing the risk of injuries and death in children. However, one study by researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research found that lap-shoulder seat belts were as protective as child safety seats in children two to six years of age, and that they were significantly less expensive. Data were collected from the Crashworthiness Data System of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 2004. A total of 463 children were included in the analysis, with 409 children being restrained by child safety seat and 54 by lap-shoulder seat belts. Unadjusted injury probability for children in severe crashes was 46 percent lower in the safety seat group compared with the lap-shoulder seat belt group. Child safety seats appear to be more effective than lap-shoulder seat belts in reducing the risk of nonfatal injuries in chil-dren two to three years of age.