title: Who is driving when unrestrained children and teenagers are hurt?
abstract: This paper examines driver characteristics in crashes where child and teenage motor vehicle crash victims were injured, in particular factors that determine whether or not the victim was restrained. Analyzing the data on children and teenagers who are injured revealed that the presence of a second adult in a vehicle increased the likelihood that these passengers were unrestrained. Other findings are more predictable: victim restraint use generally mirrored driver restraint use; a male driver, a young driver, a drinking driver, a speeding or reckless driver, an unlicenced or suspended driver, and a night-time trip each independently raised the odds that child and teenage passengers were not restrained when they were injured.
authors.affiliation: National Public Services Research Institute, Landover, MD 20785, USA. miller@pire.org
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Spicer
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Lestina
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015984:Causality; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012622:Seat Belts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*