| Children and Side Impact Crashes |
| Children's Hospital of Philadelphia released to the public the findings of their research concerning side-impact crashes and how to best protect children during their presentation to the Scientific Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). The research is partially based on a database containing information on more than 377,000 crashes involving more than 557,000 children from birth through age 15 years. To review an interactive video on how to choose and install a child safety seat, visit www.chop.edu/carseat. as well as the research. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 42 percent of child fatalities to rear-seated children ages 0 to 8 years occur in side-impact collisions. Overall, side-impact crashes kill about 300 American children under 8 each year and result in more severe injuries at lower crash severities than frontal collisions. The conclusions from the research indicated that the safest position during a side-impact crash remains the position furthest away from the point of impact, which would be the middle of the back seat. Having other passengers next to the child safety seat reduces the rate of injuries by up to 58 per cent. Backless boosters and high back booster seats reduce internal organ and lumbar spine injuries. The high back booster offers even more protection, as much as 70 percent. According to Kristy Arbogast, of the Partners for Child Passenger Safety, "In addition to new insights into child occupant safety in side-impact crashes, our findings demonstrate the effectiveness of using age- and size- appropriate restraints and rear seating in preventing injuries in this crash direction. Correct restraint use and rear-seating for children, this is the message we need to convey to parents." |
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