0- US Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration DOT HS 808120 March 1994 Final Report Local Police Enforcement, Public In'ormation and Education Strategies to Foster More and Proper Use of Child Safety Seats by Toddlers: Evaluation of a Demonstration Project * This document is availalbe to the public from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161 * This publication is distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis­ tration, in the interest of information exchange. The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of. the Department of Transportation or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. If trade or manufac­ turers' name or products are mentioned, it is because they are considered essential to the object of the publication and should not be construed as an endorsement. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Technical Report Documen 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient. Catalog No. DOT 1S M8 1M 4. Title and Subtitle S. Report Date Local Police Enforcement, Public Information and Education Strategies to Foster March 1994 More and Proper Use of Child Safety Seats by Toddlers: Evaluation. of a 6. Parton Orgaiza don Cods Demonstration Project . 7. Atnhwlsl S. Performing Organization Report No. Lawrence E. Decina, Michael G. Temple, Ph.D., and Heidi S. Dorer 9. Performing Organization Name and Addraa 10. Work Unit No. ITRAi ) ICETRON Division of The Bionetics Corporation Great Valley Corporate Center 350 Technology Drive 11. Contract or Grant No. Malvern, PA 19355 DTNH22-89-C-07029 12. Sponnoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered National Highway Traffic Safety Administration;-Office of Program Development Final Report and Evaluation 14. Sponsoring Agency code 400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, DC 20590 . 16. Supplementary Notes Douglas B. Garin; Ph.D. was the COTR. 16. Abstract . This project evaluated the effects of enforcing safety belt (SB)/child safety seat (CSS) laws and providing public information and education (PI&E) about the laws and use and proper use of CSSs-without external funding. Project goals focused on increasing occupant restraint (OR) usage for all infants and young children, especially for toddlers, aged 1 to 5 years; extending the use of CSS's to the back seat; fostering proper use of CSSs for all trips; and increasing community. wide OR. use. An `administrative audit of the project was also performed. The project was implemented in two suburban communities of Philadelphian. A *do-nothing' town was chosen as a control. The project relied heavily on police as both enforcers and educators on use/proper use of CSSs. The percentage of OR enforcement contacts (citations and written warnings), given out in the two test communitities was 21 and 10 percent of the total moving (point) citations and 11 and 3 percent of the total citations during the intervention phase,•respectively. The use and proper use of restsainta on over 5,800 young children and over 4,500 drivers were observed. Drivers of these children were also interviewed. Results in the itwo test communities -showed an increase in toddler CSS use from a baseline of 71.8 percent and 60.9-percent to 78.8 percent and 71 .4 percent, respectively; and proper use from a baseline of 67. percent and 57.5 percent to 72.8 percent and 69.3 percent. respectively. Infint seat use remained very high at all three sites (over 90%) before and after intervention. No changes were noted in the control site. Community belt use increased by 9 and 6 perartage points in the two test sits and decreased. by 3 percentage points in the control site. Results showed that routine police enforcement of SB and CSS lawn combined with periodic 'blitaea',•and a comprehensive PIBa:E project can sigaificaatly improve SB and CSS use and increase proper use of CSSs. Effective OR enforcement projects require commitment, training, alive enforcement (citations and written warnings), management monitoring, and comprehensive PI&E, with emphasis on enforcement activities. In addition, state and community. support is needed to promote enforcement actions and education about proper CSS use. 17. Key Words 1e. Distribution Statement Enforcement Strategies, Toddlers, Public Information and Distributed to the public through the National Education, Safety Belt Use, Child Safety Seat Use, Misuse, Technical Information Service, : Springfield, VA Proper. Use, Occupant Restraint Laws, Child Safety Seat, Seat 22161 Belts. Traffic law enforcement, Toddler seat,;booster seat 19. Security Closed.: lof this report) 20. Security Claud. lof this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified: $188.079 Form DOT F 1706.748-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized PREFACE This project has evaluated the effects of both enforcing the occupant restraint laws in local conununities of Pennsylvania and providing public information and education about these laws and about the use and proper use of child safety seats for toddlers. The authors wish to thank many individuals and organizations for their time and effort. The authors would like first to express their appreciation to the Tredyffrin, Haverford, and Abington Township Police Departments for their cooperation and their willingness to participate in the project. Thanks also go to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Center for Highway Safety and affiliated child passenger safety organizations, which assisted in project activities and helped acquire project material, supplies, and mini-grant funds. The organizations include: The Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Traffic Injury Prevention Project, formerly PA Child Passenger Safety Project; Chester and Delaware County Comprehensive Highway Safety Project; Montgomery County Health Department; PennDOT District Corridor Safety Program; and PA Volunteers for Highway Safety. Keystone Safety Belt Network (Traffic Safety Now, Inc.) also assisted in many activities of the project, especially police training. Thanks are also in order for all of the community groups that participated in the success of this project, 'ncluding the day-care/preschool centers, schools, businesses, and shopping centers. V 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION TITLE PAGE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................... xi 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................... 1 2 BACKGROUND ........................................ 3 CSS CHARACTERISTICS ................... ....... 3 Seat Types ....................................... 3 4 ProperCommon Use Misuse ...................................... ................................... 6 Child Safety Seat Usage Rates ............................ 6 Safety Belt Usage Rates ............................... 7 LAWS AND PROGRAMS ................................. 8 Occupant Restraint Laws .............................. 8. National Child Safety Seat Programs ....................... 10 Pennsylvania Child Safety Seat Programs ................. 11 RESEARCH STUDIES AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS ......... 11 Legislation Evaluation ................................ 11 Education Projects .................................... 13 Enforcement Projects ................................ 14 Project Implications ................................. 15 3 RESEARCH AND DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGIES .........: 17 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 17 DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY ....................... 19 Forms ........................................... 19 Training .......................................... 20 Observation Procedures ............................... 21 4 SITES ................................................ 23 SELECTION CRITERIA PROCESS .......................... 23 Police and Community Support ......•......... 23 Socioeconomic and Community Profile Characteristics ............ 23 Logistical Requirements ............................ 24 SELECTION OF CANDIDATE SITES ............. ....... 24 COMMUNITY PROFILES .................................. • 25 Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics ............... 25 Police ................ 26 Local and Regional Support ............................. 27 5 PROJECT ACTIVITIES ................................... 29 POLICE .................... ........:............. 29 Managerial Directives and Policy Decisions .................. 29 Enforcement Activities ................................. 32 PI&E Activities ................................. 38 Kickoff Events .................................... 38 Programs and Special Events ........................... 40 Media Exposure ................................... 42 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) PAGE Other OR Activities (NHTSA Summer 1991 Safety Belt Promotion Campaigns) ...................................... 43 STATE-SUPPORTED REGIONAL AND.LOCAL HIGHWAY SAFETY GROUPS ........................................... 44 PRIVATE SUPPORT .. .............................. 46 COMMUNITY GROUPS ................................. 46 OTHER SUPPORT .................................... 47 6 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS ................................. 49 CHARACTERISTICS OF SAMPLE ....... ................ 49 OBSERVATION DATA ....... 49 Shoulder"Belt Use by Drivers .­............ , ............... 50 Restraint Use for Young Children ................... 51 Compliance with