Decker M D, Dewey M J, Hutcheson R H, Schaffner W
JAMA. 1984 Nov 9;252(18):2571-5.
The Tennessee Child Passenger Protection Act, mandating the use of child restraint devices for children younger than 4 years, took effect in 1978. In the years 1978 through 1983, eighty-one children younger than 4 years died in Tennessee traffic accidents; only two were in child restraint devices. During this period, as child restraint device use rose from 8% to more than 30%, the number of deaths among children younger than 4 years declined more than 50%. Analysis of supplemental accident reports filed in investigations of motor vehicle accidents involving children younger than 4 years during 1982 and 1983 showed that child restraint devices are highly effective in preventing death and in preventing or reducing injury. Children not in child restraint devices were 11 times more likely to die in an accident than children in child restraint devices. Children traveling in the arms of an adult were exposed to a risk of injury or death comparable to that of children left entirely unrestrained.
田纳西州儿童乘客保护法案于1978年生效，该法案规定4岁以下儿童须使用儿童约束装置。在1978年至1983年期间，田纳西州有81名4岁以下儿童死于交通事故；只有两名儿童使用了儿童约束装置。在此期间，随着儿童约束装置的使用率从8%上升到30%以上，4岁以下儿童的死亡人数下降了50%以上。对1982年和1983年涉及4岁以下儿童的机动车事故调查中提交的补充事故报告进行分析表明，儿童约束装置在预防死亡以及预防或减少伤害方面非常有效。未使用儿童约束装置的儿童在事故中死亡的可能性是使用儿童约束装置儿童的11倍。坐在成人怀抱中的儿童面临的受伤或死亡风险与完全未受约束的儿童相当。
