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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Manxia Wu, MD, MPH, Georgia Department of Human Resources, Epidemiology Branch, 2 Peachtree St, NW, Atlanta, GA 30303, 404-657-2636, manxiawu@dhr.state.ga.us and Denise Yeager, MA, Georgia Department of Human Resources, Injury Prevention Section, 2 Peachtree St, NW, Atlanta, GA 30303.

Motor vehicle crashes are leading causes of unintentional injury and deaths among children in Georgia. Understanding the vehicle and occupant characteristics among these child passengers would more efficiently prevent injuries occurred among the children. Georgia Accident Crash Report System data, which included all crashes occurring on public roadways in 2004, was analyzed using SAS. Our analysis only focused on child passengers aged less than 18 years old in passenger vehicles. There were total of 108,413 child passengers in 63,893 motor vehicle crashes in Georgia, resulting in 9,450 (15%) children injured and 62 child fatalities. Of all the children, 42% were aged 0 to 7 years; 60% of them were in cars; 87% were restrained; and 11,891 (11%) were with a driver aged less than 18 years old. For children aged 0 to 7 years, 56% used child safety seat, 35% used seat belt alone, and 81% were sitting in the rear seat. Child occupants in pick-up trucks had the highest proportion of unrestraint in all passenger vehicles. Among children restrained, 99% of the drivers were also belted compared to 41% with children using no safety restrains in their vehicles. Children not injured in crashes had higher proportion using safety restrains than those injured or killed. And among all the crashes, “following too close” was listed as the most common contributing factors and citations. Child and driver's restraint usage among passenger vehicles still needs to be addressed.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Describe common safety characteristics among child occupants in motor vehicle crashes
• 2. Analyze Georgia Accident Crash Report System data to assess those common risk factors related to child injuries and fatalities in crashes.
• 3. Identify risk factors associated to child injures or fatalities in motor vehicle crashes in Georgia
• 4. Recognize that child and driver’s restraint usage among passenger vehicles still needs to be addressed in Georgia.
• 5. Apply findings to guide prevention programs.

Keywords: Motor Vehicles, Injuries

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered