seat belt

The purpose of air bags is to prevent serious injury of occupants involved in vehicular accidents. Although lives have been saved by air bags, certain subpopulations have a greater risk for personal injury or death; namely, children and small-stature adults. The present research had two parts. The first was a survey in which participants were asked the minimum recommended age limit for children in the front seat according to the visor warning in vehicles with passenger-side air bags. The results indicated that on average minimum age reported by participants (M = 8.8 yrs, SD= 3.4) is significantly lower than the recommended age of 13, t(244) =-23.94, p < .0001. The second part was a field study that evaluated whether young children were (a) located in the front seat of vehicles equipped with passenger-side air bags, and (b) if the occupants of the vehicle wore their seat belts. The results indicate that 16% (n = 24) of the children being dropped off or picked up at an elementary school rode in the front seat of vehicles equipped with passenger-side air bags. Also, 11% (n = 16) of the drivers and 27% (n = 56) of the children were not wearing seat belts. Implications of the study with respect to warnings are discussed.

Motor vehicle crash (MVC) related injury has been identified as a major public health concern. Child restrain (CR) seat belts can minimize the mortality and morbidity from MVC. The use for seat belts is substantially low in developing countries like Pakistan even though its use has been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality by a significant extent. This was a case control study with cases from the general population (GP) and controls from the Aga Khan University (AKU) employees in a 3:1 ratio. The study questionnaire was based on parameters like gender, education level, awareness and presence of CR and also assessed the frequency of usage, reasons for not using CR and the source of knowledge regarding CR use. Out of 848 respondents, 212 were from AKU and 636 were from the GP. 96.7% from AKU had at least a bachelor's degree while less than half (42.6%) of those from the GP were graduate or above (<0.001). A statistically significant difference was found between the two gro...

Seat belts have been effective in reducing serious injuries and deaths in vehicular accidents. However, their use by women in the third trimester of pregnancy can cause placental damage and fetal injury or death in relatively minor motor vehicle accidents without severely injuring pregnant women. The lack of seat belt use in similar or more serious accidents could cause severe injuries or death to pregnant women from impacts within the cabin or from ejection, and in turn could lead to fetal injuries or deaths. The present study sought to determine whether women between the ages of 16 and 45 (child bearing age) would like to be informed of these risks. Ninety-nine of the 101 women surveyed indicated they would like to be informed of the risks, and that they would expect to find this information in the vehicle's owners manual. In dealing with the risks, some women indicated that they would wear the seatbelts and others indicated they would not. Most respondents indicated that they would reduce the risks by reducing their use of the vehicle during pregnancy. These results have implications for risk communications.