News Lap-and-shoulder belts prevent serious injury as well as car seats

CandCfam · Sep 17, 2008

Lap-and-shoulder belts prevent serious injury as well as car seats

Mon, Sep 8, 2008 (HealthDay News) — Among children ages 2 to 6, lap-and-shoulder safety belts are as effective as child safety seats in preventing serious injuries in traffic crashes, says a study by researchers at the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

But their analysis of three large representative samples of crashes and related hospital data did show that child safety seats are 25 percent more effective at reducing less serious injuries, United Press International reported.

Lap belts alone aren't as effective as child safety seats or lap-and-shoulder seat belts, but are far better than riding unrestrained, the researchers said. The study appears in the journal Economic Inquiry.

All states require the use of child safety seats and the minimum age and weight requirements for children's use of seat belts has been increasing over time, UPI reported.
-- HealthDay

SO much wrong with that line of thought; but then they are contradicting themselves within the article and nullifying the very thing they are saying.

Has anyone heard anything else on this 'study'?

emandbri · Sep 17, 2008

This makes no sense what-so-ever. Basically they are saying if you are in a serious crash it doesn't make a difference if you are in a harness or lap/shoulder belt but for a less severe crash it is better to be in a harness? That really defies logic.

abacus2 · Sep 17, 2008

emandbri said:
This makes no sense what-so-ever. Basically they are saying if you are in a serious crash it doesn't make a difference if you are in a harness or lap/shoulder belt but for a less severe crash it is better to be in a harness? That really defies logic.

Yes, this. Also, they must have ignored proper use of the car seats in question.

UlrikeDG · Sep 17, 2008

The question is, "Is there a flaw in this study, or do seatbelts really protect as well as harnessed FF seats?" Just because the data don't make sense to us, doesn't mean it's not accurate, but if the study was badly done, then the conclusions drawn could be extremely detrimental to the safety of American children.

Of course, the other way to look at it would be: children up to age six should remain rear facing.

(Though there's not enough information given in this article to draw that conclusion.)

emandbri · Sep 17, 2008

Maybe we should send it to mythbusters.

emandbri · Sep 17, 2008

here is a longer article.

http://www.themedguru.com/articles/...ng_serious_injuries_as_car_seats-8619784.html

UlrikeDG · Sep 18, 2008

Surprise, surprise. This is the published article of Joseph Doyle and Steven Levitt, the author of Freakonomics, which explains why it was published in a journal like Economic Inquiry*, rather than one related to children and safety issues. The full text requires a subscription. The abstract can be found here: EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CHILD SAFETY SEATS AND SEAT BELTS IN PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM INJURY.

*A quick survey of the archives uncovers such scientifically rigorous and groundbreaking studies as "Secret Santa Reveals the Secret Side of Giving" and "The Influence of Social Forces: Evidence from the Behavior of Football Referees".

News Lap-and-shoulder belts prevent serious injury as well as car seats

CandCfam

New member

emandbri

Well-known member

abacus2

Well-known member

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

emandbri

Well-known member

emandbri

Well-known member

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Sponsors

Forum statistics