Child safety in cars: an international collaboration

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of child death in Australia with substantial societal costs. While child restraints (CRS) offer good protection, this is critically dependent on correct use. Unlike crash test dummies, child passengers rarely sit still in their CRS. The proposed international study will use innovative naturalistic driving methods to observe and quantify the positions of child occupants in cars, identify the injury effects of out-of-position status and its impact on driver distraction. Outcomes will be used to optimise vehicle and CRS design and develop targeted safety education strategies to mitigate injury to children in car crashes.