Download or read book The Use of Safety Restraint Systems in Virginia by Occupants Under 16 Years of Age written by Charles B. Stoke and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This series of observational surveys to determine child safety seat use in Virginia began in 1993 at the request of officials of Virginia's Department of Motor Vehicles. During all 5 years (there was no survey in 1995), data for metropolitan areas were collected at the same locations, at the same time of day and day of week, and in accordance with the same criteria for determining use. In 1997, data collection was added for safety restraint use by occupants 4 to 16 years of age at the request of officials of the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), which is now responsible for the state's child safety seat program. In addition, VDH requested that sites be added in communities with a population between 50,000 and 100,000 (mid-size cities), so 7 sites were added. The 1998 data show that the proportion of children riding in the front seats has shifted. For metropolitan area occupants under 4 years of age, the proportion of front seat occupants was 19.6% in 1997 and 7.3% in 1998 (p

Download or read book Urban Safety Restraint Use by Infants and Children Under 16 Years of Age in Virginia written by Cheryl Lynn and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The original child restraint law passed in Virginia in 1982 required that children under 4 years of age use a child safety seat, except for those who weighed at least 40 pounds or were at least 40 inches tall, who could use a standard safety belt. In 1997, Sections 46.2-1094 and 46.2-1095 of the Code of Virginia were changed to require that all children under age 16 use safety restraints. In 2002, the legislature amended Section 46.2-1095 so that "Any person who drives on the highways of Virginia any motor vehicle manufactured after January 1, 1968, shall ensure that any child, through age five, whom he transports therein is provided with and properly secured in a child restraint device of a type which meets the standards adopted by the United States Department of Transportation" [emphasis added]. In addition, Section 46.2-1100 stipulated that "The use of a seat belt . . . shall not violate this article if (i) the affected child is at least four years old but less than six years old and (ii) the weight and size of the child is such as to make the use of such seat belt practical and the use of an approved child restraint impractical." Safety restraint use among children has been monitored in Virginia using roadside surveys since the early 1980s. Changes were made in the 2002 survey methodology to allow the survey to reflect the changes in the child restraint law. The age categories previously used in the survey were changed to (1) infants and toddlers 0 through 3 years, (2) preschoolers 4 and 5 years old, and (3) children 6 through 15 years old. These categories will allow the investigators to continue to analyze the longitudinal restraint use data using the previous age categories (0 through 3 years and 4 through 15 years) as well as to evaluate the impact of the legislative changes made in 2002 using the new age categories (0 through 5 years and 6 through 15 years) when sufficient data are available. A total of 2,452 children were observed during the 2003 survey: 353 children under age 4 and 2,099 children 4 through 15 years of age. In 2003, total child restraint use for metropolitan areas and mid-size cities combined was 91.1% and correct use was 89.3%. Total seat belt use among 4 through 15 year olds in metropolitan areas and mid-size cities combined was 65.1%, and correct use was 53.5%.

Download or read book The Use of Safety Restraint Systems in Virginia by Occupants Under 16 Years of Age written by Charles B. Stoke and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This series of observational surveys, to determine child safety seat use in Virginia, began in 1993 at the request of DMV officials. During all 4 years (there was no survey in 1995), data in metropolitan areas were collected at the same locations, at the same time of day and day of week, and according to the same criteria for determining use. In 1997, data collection was added for safety restraint use by occupants 4 to 16 years of age at the request of officials of the Department of Health, which is now responsible for the state's child safety seat program. In addition, data were collected on whether any booster seats in use were being used properly. Seven sites were also added in communities with a population between 50,000 and 100,000 (mid-size cities). For the entire vehicle, the 1997 metropolitan area child safety seat correct use rate was 54.1 %, incorrect use was 17.4%, and non-use was 28.5%. Non-use was greater in the front seats (42.1 %) than in the rear seats (25.2%). The western area had the highest non-use rate (50.0%) and the lowest correct use rate (32.1 %). Non-use and correct use in Northern Virginia, Central Virginia, and Tidewater were similar, with correct use ranging from 53.1% to 58.7% and non-use ranging from 24.8% to 29.1 %. Child safety seat use in the three areas categorized as mid-size cities (Charlottesville, Danville, and Lynchburg) was lower than in the metropolitan areas: correct use was 43.2%, incorrect use was 14.8%, and non-use was 42.0%, with Danville having the highest non-use rate at 61.9%. Non-use was higher in the front seats (66.7%) than in the rear seats (37.7%). Safety restraint/seat belt use by occupants 4 to 16 years old riding in the rear seats was very low. In the metropolitan areas, correct use was 34.9%, incorrect use was 2.3%, and non-use was 62.9%, with the western area having the highest non-use rate (69.3%). In the mid-size cities, correct use was 26.2%, incorrect use was 1.5%, and non-use was 72.3%, rates considerably worse than in the metropolitan areas, with Danville having a non-use rate of 84.7%. There was a high correct use rate for booster seats: 83.1% for the entire vehicle, 84.0% for the rear seats, and 77.8% for the front seats. The recommendations include the initiation of research to determine why child safety seat use is so low, a public information and education effort geared specifically toward child safety seat use, a special education and enforcement effort aimed at occupants 4 to 16 years of age, and frequent and continuous education and enforcement efforts because of changes in the population of the targeted groups.

Download or read book The Use of Safety Restraint Systems in Virginia by Occupants Under 16 Years of Age written by Cheryl Lynn and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Virginia Transportation Research Council has been monitoring the use of child safety restraint systems in Virginia since 1983 through child safety seat surveys conducted annually (with the exception of 1995). The principal goal of the survey has been to estimate compliance with the relevant statutes in place at the time. Each year, data were collected from the four metropolitan areas of the state (northern, eastern, central, and western) at the same sites, on the same day of the week, and at the same hour of the day. In 1997, sites in three localities with a population between 50,000 and 100,000, referred to as mid-size cities, were added, as was data collection on safety belt use by occupants 4 to 16 years of age. This change was made because of changes to 46.2-1094 and 46.2-1095 of the Code of Virginia, which required these rear seat occupants to use safety restraints. In 1997, the percentage of children under age 4 seated in the front seat was in the double digits in every locality studied. Since then, the percentage of front seat passengers in this age group declined into single digits in all but one locality. Between 1993 and 1998, Metropolitan area survey results were characterized by a lack of consistent change, with correct use rates hovering in the 50s and mid-60s. In 1999, correct use rose to 83.2%. Similar trends had been seen in all four metropolitan areas, with the 1999 correct use rate ranging from 78.8% in the western area to 89.0% in the eastern area. A similar increase from 57.0% in 1998 to 84.6% in 1999 was noted in the mid-size cities. Lynchburg experienced the greatest increase, from 36.8% to 91.9%, with the rate in Charlottesville increasing to 88.5% and in Danville to 70.6%. In all three mid-size cities, incorrect use rates dropped to below 10%. In terms of restraint use among occupants 4 to 16 years of age, the picture is more complicated and not so positive. In the metropolitan areas, there was a modest increase in 1999 in correct restraint use (4.5 points), but nothing like the dramatic changes seen in the younger group of children. Front seat correct use rose to 61.8% in 1999, compared to the rear seat correct use of 49%. Correct restraint use among occupants 4 to 16 years of age also increased in midsize cities, but by about 10 points. These increases were not consistent across metropolitan areas or mid-size cities.

Download or read book Urban Safety Restraint Use by Infants and Children Under 16 Years of Age in Virginia written by Cheryl Lynn and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The principal goal of this child restraint survey has always been to estimate compliance with the relevant statutes in place at the time. Each summer, data were collected in the four metropolitan areas of Virginia (northern, eastern, central, and western) at the same sites, on the same day of the week, and at the same hour of the day. In 1997, sites in three mid-size cities with a population between 50,000 and 100,000 were added, as was data collection on safety belt use by occupants under 16 years of age. In 2002, additional sites in the existing mid-size cities were added to increase the sample size and a new mid-size city, Harrisonburg, was added. In addition, in 2002, the age categories used in the survey were changed to (1) infants and toddlers 0 through 3 years old, (2) preschoolers 4 through 5 years old, and (3) children 6 through 15 years old. These categories allowed the investigators to continue to analyze the longitudinal restraint use data and to evaluate the impact of the legislative changes made in 2002. A total of 2,823 children were observed during the 2002 summer survey of child restraint and safety belt use among persons under 16 years of age: 594 children under age 4 and 2,229 children aged 4 to 16. In 2002, total child safety seat use for metropolitan areas and mid-size cities combined was 93.2% and correct use was 70.8%. Total seat belt use among 4 to 16 year olds in metropolitan areas and mid-size cities combined was 65.6%, and correct use was 55.4%.

Download or read book Safety Restraint Use in Virginia written by Charles B. Stoke and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this report was to take a retrospective glance at Virginia's experience in getting her citizens to use the automobile safety restraint systems available to them. In Virginia, data on safety belt and child safety seat use were collected annually from 1983 until 1994. Data on child safety seat use were not collected in 1995, although safety belt use figures were again gathered. The data revealed that, for most years, the change in safety belt use rates was small. The use of child safety seats increased substantially after the effective date (January 1, 1983) of the statute requiring it. Safety belt use by front seat occupants also increased substantially following the effective date of the mandatory use law (January 1, 1988), which applied only to front seat occupants. However, use by rear seat occupants was lower in 1989 and 1990 than in 1987. Infants had higher rates of safety restraint use than did older passengers, with the infant use rate peaking in 1991. Further, belt use was higher in metropolitan areas. Both safety restraint use statutes were effective in increasing the use rates of the target populations: infants and front seat occupants. Virginia legislators should enhance the lifesaving potential of passenger restraint systems by mandating the use of safety belts by rear seat passengers.

Download or read book Urban Safety Restraint Use by Infants Preschoolers and Older Children in Virginia written by Cheryl Lynn and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2004, Virginia's child restraint use survey was conducted in four metropolitan areas of the state (northern, eastern, central, and western) and in four mid-size cities (Charlottesville, Danville, Lynchburg, and Harrisonburg) at the same sites, on the same day of the week, and at the same hour of the day as in previous surveys. The principal goal of the survey is to monitor (1) safety and booster seat use by infants under 4 and preschoolers 4 and 5 years of age, and (2) safety belt use by older children 6 to 16. Each survey estimates compliance with the child restraint law in place at the time. The surveys have been conducted every year since 1983. Changes were made in the 2002 child restraint survey methodology to reflect the changes in the child restraint law. The age categories previously used were changed to (1) infants under 4, (2) preschoolers 4 and 5, and (3) older children 6 to 16. These categories will allow investigators to continue to analyze the longitudinal restraint use data using the previous age categories (infants under 4 and children 4 to 16) and to evaluate the impact of the legislative changes made in 2002. In this survey, safety belt and child safety seat use were divided into three categories: correct use, incorrect use, and nonuse. The definitions of correct use and incorrect use for child safety seats were changed in 2003 to measures that could be consistently determined from outside the vehicle. Incorrect use for children under 6 was defined to include safety seat or lap belt use by a child either too large or too small for that form of restraint. For children 6 to 16, the definition of incorrect use was not changed and included wearing the shoulder belt either behind the back or under the arm. Total use rates defined as correct plus incorrect use are also presented in the report to represent a rate not biased by any remaining variability in the incorrect use category. A total of 2,596 children were observed during the 2004 survey: 375 infants under 4 and 2,221 children 4 to 16. In 2004, total child restraint use for infants in metropolitan areas and in mid-size cities combined was 98.1% and correct use was 92.8%. Total seat belt use among 4 to 16 year olds in metropolitan areas and in mid-size cities combined was 76.0%, and correct use was 65.4%.

Download or read book Safety Restraint Use Trends in Virginia written by Charles B. Stoke and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Use of Safety Restraint Systems in Virginia by Occupants Under 16 Years of Age written by Charles B. Stoke and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Survey of Child Safety Seat and Safety Belt Use in Virginia written by Charles B. Stoke and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Mandatory Safety Belt Use Legislation written by Jessica A. Ginsburg and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report discusses the current environment which would influence the consideration of a mandatory safety belt use law in Virginia. First, the regulatory context fostered by the U.S. Department of Transportation's issuance of federal motor vehicle safety standard 208 is examined. This rule requires that automobile manufacturers install passive restraints such as airbags or automatic seat belts in all cars by 1989 unless states covering two-thirds of the nation's population enact mandatory safety belt use laws. Next is a discussion of the provisions of the mandatory use laws in effect in 16 states, along with data from New York and New Jersey, the first two states to enact such legislation. In New York State, safety belt usage increased from around 20% to nearly 78% following the effective date of the law. While the use of belts subsequently declined, it remained two or three times higher than before the law. A significant decline in highway fatalities was also noted following passage of the mandatory use law. Finally, data on safety belt usage and traffic deaths in Virginia are examined. According to statistics from the Fatal Accident Reporting System, of the 2,154 people killed in highway accidents in Virginia between 1982 and 1984, 2,076 (96%) were not wearing safety belts. Belt wearers, who constitute as much as 20% of the motorists, accounted for only 4% of the traffic deaths. A similar relationship is evident in the data for each of the Department of Motor Vehicle districts in the state.

Download or read book Urban Safety Restraint Use by Occupants Under 16 Years of Age in Virginia written by Cheryl Lynn and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Introduction of Child Safety Seat Legislation in Virginia Types and Levels of Community Response and Effects on Automobile Accident Statistics Final Report written by R. B. Montague and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Constitutionality and Effectiveness of Legislation Requiring Child Passenger Restraints written by Daniel John Regan and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report was prepared in anticipation of the Virginia General Assembly's consideration of proposals to require motorists to properly restrain their child passengers in safety devices. Three questions are discussed. First, are child restraint laws constitutional? Second, are the laws cost-effective? Third, which specific provisions tend to decrease costs and increase benefits ? Three theories which have been advanced to argue that law on the use of child restraints are constitutional were considered. Two of these are seriously flawed, but the third rests on precedents that have acknowledged the state's power to protect those incapable of protecting themselves. This third argument, paternalism, should be sufficient to find child restraint laws constitutional. The cost-effectiveness of child restraint legislation cannot be established empirically. The inadequacy of the literature can largely be traced to the immeasurability of the costs and benefits, and the lack of sufficient time to study the existing statutes. The two major costs imposed by child restraint legislation, enforcement costs and compliance costs, are easy to identify but hard to measure. The benefits of child restraint legislation, increased safety through increased use, are difficult to determine because it is unclear how many people will ignore the law or comply in ways that degrade the safety benefit. Moreover, any judgment on the cost-effectiveness of child restraint legislation inevitably hinges on a highly subjective evaluation of childhood death and injury. These difficulties are compounded by the fact that nine of the eleven existing laws were passed within the last year, leaving no time for careful analysis. Although absolute measures of the costs and benefits of legislation on the use of child restraints are unavailable, some states have sought to enhance their statutes' marginal effectiveness by adding provisions that decrease costs or increase benefits. These provisions were analyzed with particular attention to the role of statutory exemptions in reducing costs and the impact of public education and monetary incentives in increasing the use of restraints. Again, there was a lack of empirical evidence, and these provisions had to be analyzed inferentially and intuitively. In discussing the fate of child restraint legislation in Virginia, frequent reference is made to the eleven states that have passed child restraint statutes. The text of those statutes and a comparison of their various provisions appear in Appendix A.

Download or read book An Observational Survey of Safety Belt and Child Safety Seat Use in Virginia written by Charles B. Stoke and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The report has been prepared in response to a request from the Transportation Safety Administration of the Department of Motor Vehicles for data concerning the use of safety belts and child safety seats by the occupants of vehicles bearing Virginia license plates. In an effort to track changes in safety belt use as a result of various statutory enactments, enforcement campaigns, and public information efforts, a series of surveys were conducted. These surveys occurred over two time periods: 1974 through 1977, and 1983 through 1989. During the period ending in 1986, only the four major metropolitan areas of the state were used for data collection. From 1987 through 1989, survey sites were added in nine smaller communities. These areas are referred to as "towns," although several are legally classified as cities. Prior to enactment of the child safety seat law in the 1982 session of the Virginia General Assembly and the occupant restraint law in the 1987 session, belt use by the affected groups (children under 4 years of age and all front seat occupants) showed small yearly increases. After the effective date of each of the statutes, there was a markedly large increase in use by both target groups. The child seat use rate has remained relatively stable over the entire 7-year postlaw period, at approximately two-thirds of those surveyed. The front seat rate peaked at nearly 63% in the first 6 months after the effective date of law and subsequently declined to about 55% (p

Download or read book Vercingetorixa written by and published by . This book was released on 1663 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Child Safety Seat and Safety Belt Use Among Urban Travelers written by Charles B. Stoke and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The four major metropolitan areas of Virginia were surveyed to determine the extent to which safety restraints were being used by urban travelers. Observers were stationed at selected signalized intersections and displayed to stopped motorists a clipboard bearing the question "Are you wearing safety belts?" The observers then approached the vehicles to visually verify any response given and to record whether safety belts or child safety seats were being used. They also recorded the sex and approximate age of each occupant and whether the child safety seats were being correctly or incorrectly used. These observations occurred in two series: 1) 1974-1977 and 2) 1983-1986. Only the latter data are reported here. Four characteristics of the survey sample were analyzed to determine whether they biased the observed belt use results. The number of vehicles observed during each of the three daily periods and in the four areas of the state and the sex of the observed occupants occurred in similar proportions in each of the four surveys and should not have caused year-to-year differences in belt usage. There were, however, variations in the age distributions of the vehicle occupants in the four survey samples, and these differences (more older and fewer middle adults) should have resulted in slightly lower use rates in 1986, all other influences being the same. Observed belt usages were analyzed according to a number of vehicle, occupant, and geographic characteristics. Each of these is discussed in a separate section of the report. Belt use rates were higher in 1986 than during the previous four years, with 35.5% of the drivers and 33.1% of all passengers using some form of safety restraint. The passage of the Child Safety Seat law in 1982 resulted in a significant increase in usage by passengers less than four years of age. During all four years, nearly three-fourths of the infants traveling as right front passengers and two-thirds of the infants classified as remaining passengers were observed to be in safety restraints.