title: Booster seats: a community based study of installation and use by parents and caregivers.
abstract: This paper describes characteristics of child safety seat misuse among attendees at 41 inspections held between February 1999-April 2001 in San Diego County, CA. Standardized criteria were assessed by certified technicians. These 41 events consisted of 988 inspections for proper installation and adjustment. 963 had a determined seat type (rear-facing, forward facing, belt positioning boosters, shield boosters, other restraint, vehicle safety belts). Each seat type had specific criteria for misuse ranging from 3 to 15 measures. 95.6% had at least one error, which could reduce the seat's protection of its occupant from injury in a crash.
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medical Services, County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, San Diego, California, USA.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Stepanski
authors.forename: L U
authors.initials: LU
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nichols
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015370:Infant Equipment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010290:Parents; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control