Seat restraint use, previous driving history, and non-fatal injury: quantifying the risks.

AIMS

To quantify the increased risk of non-fatal injury when children travel unrestrained in a car, and to identify other preventable risk factors.

METHODS

Case-control study of 78 children presenting to an accident and emergency (A&E) department having sustained an injury while travelling in a car, and 97 children attending an A&E outpatient clinic with conditions unrelated to road traffic accidents.

RESULTS

Seat restraint was associated with a 93% lower risk of child accident injury. A driver with points on the licence was over five times more likely to have had an accident resulting in child injury than a driver without points. Child accident injury was also associated with the driver's accident history.

CONCLUSIONS

These data allow the effect of achieving new target levels of seat restraint use to be estimated. Strategies aimed at reducing the risk of further accident among drivers with a history of accident may have a beneficial impact on childhood accident injuries.