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New Study Examines Who Is Behind the Wheel When Children Are in Accidents
WASHINGTON, June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Automobile accidents are
the number-one killer of children in America. A new study by
Ford Motor Company and the University of Michigan shows that
parents should pay close attention to who is behind the wheel
when one of their children are in the car.
The study, titled "Child Injuries & Fatalities: Who is Behind the Wheel," was presented today by Ford and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute at the annual Society of Automotive Engineers Government/Industry meeting in Washington, D.C. Each year approximately 1,900 children 15 and younger in the United States are killed while riding as passengers in a vehicle.
The findings from the study include:
-- Children spend most of their time in vehicles being driven by parent-age drivers, who act more cautiously as a result.
-- As children become older, the picture changes. 14 and 15 year olds spent about one quarter of their time as passengers with peers behind the wheel.
-- More than 80 percent of 14 and 15 year olds who were killed were passengers in vehicles with drivers who were too young to be their parents. In fact, 70 percent of them were riding with drivers who were aged 21 or under.
-- Looking even more closely at that group, in 14 percent of peer driver-caused fatal accidents, children between the ages of 12 and 15 were behind the wheel.
"This information is alarming," says Jack Edwards, a safety data analysis engineer at Ford, and lead author of the study. "It means that some parents are allowing their pre-teens and young teens to drive with relatively inexperienced drivers. They are also allowing these youngsters to gain far too much of their early driving experience from other teenagers."
Drivers were placed into four groups: peers, younger drivers, parent-age drivers and older drivers. For purposes of the study, peers are the youngest group and are typically friends or siblings of the child passengers. Peers are within 6 years of the child passenger's age, while younger drivers are 7-17 years within a child passenger's age. Government data from 1995-1998 were used in the study.
Parent-age drivers accounted for more than half of all alcohol-related child fatalities. When parents were behind the wheel, these accident rates rose during the day, reaching a peak between 4 and 9 p.m. Not surprisingly, alcohol-related accidents with peer drivers typically occurred late at night and early in the morning.
Another result of the study is the continuing importance of using proper safety restraints. The lowest risk was found when both the driver and the child are restrained -- only 2.3 percent of children who were wearing restraints in tow-away accidents suffered serious injuries or fatalities. When both the driver and child were not restrained, 12.6 percent of children involved in tow-away accidents suffered a serious injury or fatality.
Other findings of the Ford/University of Michigan study include:
-- When it comes to gender, male drivers are most likely to be involved in crashes that result in injuries and fatalities to child passengers.
-- Over 20 percent of all fatally injured child passengers were in crashes in which the driver was traveling too fast for conditions or at speeds in excess of posted limits.
-- As a teenager moves further away from first receiving a driver's license, his or her use of safety belts decreases.
"Once again the message is that seat belts seem to be the most effective safety feature available," says Camp. "To increase use of safety belts, we are putting a system called BeltMinder(TM) in all our vehicles. The system uses a chime and a light on the instrument panel to remind unbelted drivers to buckle up."
In addition, Ford and the government are partnering on the most comprehensive child safety education campaign in history. "Boost America!" is designed to teach every 4-to-8 year old in the country the importance of being in the right belt-positioning booster seat. Ford also has purchased a company called "Young Drivers" to help properly educate new drivers.
Some tips for deciding with whom your children should drive:
-- A parent's personal restraint usage is a good indicator of what he or she will do if your child is a passenger in the vehicle.
-- Listen to what your children say about the adults with whom they drive.
-- Be attentive to clues that a parent might be intoxicated while driving.
-- For older children, keep a list of who they may or may not ride with, as well as where and when.
-- If your child is a teenage driver, consider whether or not you want him or her to have passengers.
-- Set an example for your children by showing responsible driving behavior.
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