title: Effects of upgraded child restraint law designed to increase booster seat use in New York.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The goal was to examine the association between the New York State (NYS) upgraded child restraint law (UCRL) implemented in 2005 and the traffic injury rate among 4- to 6-year-old children in New York State.
  
  
  METHODS
  A before/after comparison study of population-based, traffic injury rates for 4- to 6-year-old children, using 0- to 3-year-old children as a comparison group, was performed. The effects of UCRL on injury rates among 0- to 3-year-old and 4- to 6-year-old motor vehicle passengers were estimated by using monthly injury count data from the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles Accident Information System.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children 4 to 6 years of age experienced an 18% reduction in traffic injury rate (adjusted rate ratio [aRR]: 0.82 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.79-0.85]) after UCRL implementation, whereas the injury rate for children 0 to 3 years of age, who were not directly affected by the UCRL, did not change appreciably (aRR: 0.95 [95% CI: 0.90-0.99]). In Poisson regression analysis, the aRR for injury for 4- to 6-year-old children was 1.06 (95% CI: 0.92-1.22]) with adjustment for monthly child restraint use rates, which reveals that the significant reduction in the injury rate among 4- to 6-year-old children was mainly attributable to the 72% increase in the child restraint use rate after UCRL implementation (from 29% before UCRL implementation to 50% after implementation).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study comparing traffic injury rates for booster seat-aged children before and after implementation of the booster seat law in a single state.
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Injury Prevention, New York State Department of Health, Riverview Center, 150 Broadway, Third Floor West, Albany, NY 12204-0677, USA. kxs26@health.state.ny.us
authors.forename: Kainan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hardman
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D057207:Child Restraint Systems / Q000592:standards*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009518:New York; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*