A project aiming to improve the safety of children on their journey to school, and to encourage them to go on foot rather than by car. Everyone in the community has a role to play in improving road safety. The use of road marking is discussed.

A 2-hour educational seminar focusing on fire and burn safety issues was developed, presented, and evaluated by the fire department. An eighth-grade class was selected for the pilot site for the seminar. Test results showed a statistically significant improvement in burn and fire safety scores of the tested children

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the role of public exercise equipment in pediatric hand traumas as a preventable etiological factor. METHODS: Pediatric patients with hand injuries referred from the emergency department were evaluated retrospectively. Age and gender of the patients, timing, etiology, mechanism of hand trauma, localization of the injury, diagnoses of the patients, and hospitalization rates were reviewed. RESULTS: Amongst the 310 pediatric patients evaluated, 31 patients (10%) experienced injury related to public exercise equipment. Within this group of patients, most were between 5 to 9 years of age, and all injuries were blunt and crush type. Lacerations and fractures were the main diagnoses. Complex injuries that required inpatient care were reported in 19.3% of the patients. CONCLUSION: Public exercise equipment-related injuries are increasingly prevalent in pediatric hand traumas. Preventive actions such as shielding the moving parts should be taken to reduce these rates.

Epidemiological information identifying injury magnitude and risks is vital for the development of prevention and safety promotion programmes, especially for low income, marginalised communities where the incidence of injury tends to be disproportionately high. This paper, accordingly, reports on a household survey, conducted in an informal settlement southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, and designed to gather epidemiological data for the purposes of informing the development of appropriate community-based injury prevention and safety promotion programmes. Data were collected for a one-year period prior to October 1998. An analysis of the data identified the causes of injuries, which residents were most at risk, and where and when the injuries most often occurred. By way of conclusion, the authors provide a few recommendations for preventive measures.

PURPOSE: Although off-road motorcycling is one of the most popular sports activities practised by millions of people worldwide, little has been written on motocross injuries and their prevention. In the UK alone, motocross has grown into a phenomenally ambitious and popular franchise. There are >200 motocross clubs across the country holding >900 events annually. The aim of this study is to categorise and quantify the magnitude of motocross paediatric injuries and associated morbidity. METHODS: Data were collected prospectively over 4 years (2010-2014) at our unit. All injuries caused by motocross biking that were referred to our trauma and orthopaedic department were included in this study, regardless of whether the rider was performing the sport competitively or recreationally. RESULTS: During the study period, 130 patients (aged 4-17 years) were identified with a total of 142 injuries, ranging from one to six injuries per patient. Most of the injuries were sustained within the early spring and summer months, representing the start of the motocross season; 76 patients required hospital admission, with 60 (42 %) requiring surgical intervention. CONCLUSION: We present the first epidemiological study of motocross paediatric injuries in the UK. The results from this study highlight the frequency and severity of motocross-related injuries in the paediatric population in the UK. This may assist in providing recommendations and guidelines to governing bodies and to parents. The injuries sustained during motocross have significant resource implications, especially for smaller rural hospitals, as shown by the number of injuries doubling over the past 4 years.

This study reports onthe evaluation of a program designed to lower the temperature of home hot tap water in Dunedin. In conjunction with a national media campaign, the program provided an educational intervention to households with young children. Before and after measures were made and comparison groups were used to determine the effect of the intervention on tap water temperatures.... The groups receiving the intervention did not differ significantly from the comparison groups. There was significant decreases in tap water temperature across all groups, but the majority of households still had temperatures above 55 degrees celcius at the end of the study

This study evaluated a railway pedestrian safety programme at an urban secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. Prior to the introduction of any interventions, observations were made to define the proportions of safe and unsafe crossings, and a survey was conducted at the school. The survey results suggested that the majority of unsafe crossings were undertaken to save time and for proximity. Three types of intervention were introduced- communications, education, and punishment- and their immediate and long term effects evaluated. Each of the interventions resulted in significantly reduced unsafe crossings, with he most marked decrease during the punishment intervention. Also see rec # 6493.

This study evaluated a programme of educational and environmental (access prevention) interventions designed to reduce the incidence of illegal and unsafe crossing of the rail corridor at a suburban station in Auckland, New Zealand. Immediately after the programme of interventions, the proportion of those crossing the rail corridor by walking across the tracks directly rather than using the nearby overbridge had decreased substantially. Three months later, the decrease was even greater. However, the educational and environmental interventions were introduced simultaneously so that the effects of each could not be separated; nor could other unmeasured factors be ruled out. Anonymous surveys administered immediately before and 3 months after the interventions indicated that while awareness of the illegality of walking across the tracks had increased slightly, perception of risk had not changed. This suggests that the educational interventions may have had less effect than the access prevention measures.

BACKGROUND: Policies to reduce injury among Canadians can be controversial and there is variability in the enactment of injury prevention laws across the country. In general, laws are most effective when they are based on good research evidence, supported by widespread public awareness and education, and maintained by consistent enforcement strategies. The purpose of this study was to document and compare key informants' perceptions of the quality, awareness, and enforcement of three evidence-based paediatric injury prevention policies (bicycle helmet legislation, child booster seat legislation, graduated driver licensing) among Canadian provinces and territories. METHODS: We identified best practices related to each policy, then developed an online survey to ascertain the extent to which each jurisdiction's policy aligned with best practices, whether experts believed that the public was aware of the policy and whether it was enforced. The survey was distributed using a snowball sampling strategy to key informants across Canada. RESULTS: Thirty-eight key informants responded to the bicycle helmet survey, with 73 and 35 key informants for the booster seat and graduated driver licensing surveys, respectively. Respondent's perceptions of the policies varied substantially. Key informants indicated that residents are not always aware of legislation, and legislation is not consistently enforced. These results suggest that child health policy is not always guided by evidence. CONCLUSIONS: There was variation between evidence and the policies related to paediatric injury prevention among Canadian provinces and territories. Experts generally rate their policies more highly when they align with evidence and best practice. There is room for improvement and harmonization of injury prevention policies.

This study evaluated a programme of interventions designed to reduce the incidence of illegal and unsafe crossing of a rail corridor at a city station by boys on their way to and from the adjacent high school in Auckland, New Zealand. The boys were observed crossing before, during, and after implementation of each intervention; in addition, surveys were carried out before and after the programme to discover the boys’ attitudes. Rail safety education in school, punishment for every unsafe crossing (continuous punishment), and punishment occasionally for unsafe crossing (intermittent punishment) were associated with significant decreases in unsafe crossing compared with that observed prior to any intervention. General communications about rail safety were not associated with significant decreases in unsafe crossing. When interventions were examined consecutively, unsafe crossing was significantly reduced between the communications and education phases, and even more so between education and continuous punishment, but there was no statistically significant difference in frequency of unsafe crossing between continuous and intermittent punishment. It was concluded that punishment may be more effective in reducing unsafe behaviour in this type of situation than targeted education, and is much more effective than communications to heighten awareness. Also see rec # 7554.

The purpose of the report was to help the Commisoisn to understand: 1. how to target and promote the 'Be Firewise' programmes to schools who are not using them, 2. how to improve and strengthen programme delivery and 3. the extent to which teachers and students perceive the 'Be Firewise' programmes to contribute to the improved levels of fire safety awareness and reduce risky behaviour amongst older children, in order to inform ongoing investment in these programmes.

Soccer is the most popular team sport in the world, with 120 million individuals participating and 16 million of these individuals being based in the United States. In addition, soccer has become the fastest growing team sport in the United States over the past 10 years. Head impact injuries have been cited as comprising 15% of all injuries related to soccer. Previous studies have identified the technique of heading as being a significant factor in head impact injuries. In fact, 85% of various subgroups of participants, 19 years of age and older, have had a diminution in cognitive function abilities on a permanent basis. It was the purpose of this study to evaluate the effect of repetitive head impacts due to heading in 57 youth soccer players with a mean age of 11.5 years. The data were collected over three seasons during the first year, which correlated to approximately 60 games and/or practices. One team of 18 boys was followed for an additional year. The data collected included a cognitive function test, as well as documentation of concussive symptoms. These cognitive evaluations, conducted at both periods of time, revealed that statistically significant differences were not evident when compared to standardised norms with the exception of verbal learning. There was an inverse relationship between the number of ball impacts and verbal learning. Of note, however, is that 49% of the year-one study group did complain of headaches after heading the ball.

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of forward facing child restraint systems (FFCRS) in preventing serious injury and hospitalization to children 12–47 months of age as compared with similar age children in seat belts. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional study of children aged 12–47 months in crashes of insured vehicles in 15 states, with data collected via insurance claims records and a telephone survey. Effectiveness estimates were limited to those children between 12 and 47 months of age seated in the back row(s) of vehicles, restrained in FFCRS, regardless of misuse, or seat belts of all types and usage. Completed survey information was obtained on 1207 children, representing 12,632 children in 11,619 crashes between 1 December 1998 and 31 May 2002. Serious injuries occurred to 0.47% of all 12–47-month olds studied, including 1.72% of those in seat belts and 0.39% of those in child restraint systems. The risk of serious injury was 78% lower for children in FFCRS than in seat belts. The risk of hospitalization was 79% lower for children in FFCRS than in seat belts. There was no difference between the restraint types in preventing minor injuries. As compared with seat belts, CRS are very highly effective in preventing serious injuries and hospitalization, respectively. This effectiveness estimate is substantially higher than older estimates, demonstrating the benefits of current CRS designs. These results provide those educating parents and caregivers population-based data on the importance of child restraint use.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of this injury prevention programme on children's primary and secondary injury prevention, and basic life support, knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviour. Results demonstrate the benefits and effectiveness of the programme on injury prevention knowledge, attitudes and behaviour.

Cycling education programs for children could play a role in promoting both cycling participation and cycling safety. Cycling education programs for children exist in many countries – mostly in school settings – but few evaluations have used rigorous research designs to assess a range of outcomes. Safe Cycle is a program that incorporates typical content (bike handling skills, traffic manoeuvres) and also hazard and self-awareness training - an important inclusion for more comprehensive programs. To evaluate Safe Cycle online surveys were conducted at treatment schools (n=108) and (waitlist) control schools (n=28) before, immediately after, and approximately 14 weeks after, the program was delivered at treatment schools. Actual riding behaviour was measured naturalistically using instrumented research bicycles at treatment (n=6) and control schools (n=6). Delivery processes were considered via relevant survey questions and interviews with teachers (at treatment schools only). Because of issues with the control group, pre-program survey data were compared with immediate post-program, and with follow-up survey data, in the treatment group only. For the naturalistic observation data treatment schools were compared with control schools. Results provide some evidence that Safe Cycle increased participation in cycling, confidence in performing cycling skills, and knowledge relevant to cycling safety. The program appeared to address illusory invulnerability effectively. Nonetheless, there was no evidence that the program improved cycling safety behaviours or outcomes. The program was well-received by students and teachers alike, and results suggest strategies for optimising the beneficial effects of Safe Cycle.

The Centre for Alternative and Sustainable Transport, based at Staffordshire University, was commissioned to evaluate a 'walking bus' scheme which had been implemented in a local school and to produce this report, with particular reference to changes in modal choices, traffic impacts and the implementation process. The evaluation integrated both quantitative and qualitative approaches for this study. Some major recommendations are given in the conclusion.

This report evaluates the Kidsafe Taranaki injury prevention project. The purpose of the pilot project was to identify the risk situation for children under five years of age involved in unintentional home injuries, to raise community and caregiver awareness, reduce the number of injuries, and reduce costs to both individuals and the health service. the pilot was carried out in the Waitara community.

Around 40% of 10 - 11-year-old children receive cycle training every year in the UK, but concern has been expressed over the efficacy of training courses. One argument is that accidents occur too infrequently to be a viable evaluative criterion, and attitudes and behaviour have been suggested as alternatives. A questionnaire that measured a number of variables including accidents, attitudes, and behaviour was completed by 336 participants from two schools in the London Borough of Bromley. At least one cycling injury had been sustained by 58.3% of respondents, requiring hospital treatment in 19.1% of cases. Girls reported fewer accidents than boys. No relationship between training and accidents was found. A principal components analysis (PCA) of the attitudes items produced a `safe attitudes’ factor. Girls displayed `safer’ attitudes, but there was no evidence that training produced safer attitudes. A PCA of the cycling behaviour scales produced two factors, `safe cycling’ and `showing off’. Safe cyclists who obeyed basic safety rules were less likely to sustain cycle injuries, but showing off was not related to accidents. Girls were less likely to show off, but the safe behaviour gender difference did not reach significance. Training did not relate to either factor.

Issue addressed: The Western Australian (WA) Public Health Bill will replace the antiquated Health Act 1911. One of the proposed clauses of the Bill requires all WA local governments to develop a Public Health Plan. The Bill states that Public Health Plans should be based on evidence from all levels, including national and statewide priorities, community needs, local statistical evidence, and stakeholder data. Methods: This exploratory study, which targeted 533 WA local government officers, aimed to identify the sources of evidence used to generate the list of public health risks to be included in local government Public Health Plans. Results: The top four sources identified for informing local policy were: observation of the consequences of the risks in the local community (24.5%), statewide evidence (17.6%), local evidence (17.6%) and coverage in local media (16.2%). Conclusions: This study confirms that both hard and soft data are used to inform policy decisions at the local level. Therefore, the challenge that this study has highlighted is in the definition or constitution of evidence. So what?: Evidence is critical to the process of sound policy development. This study highlights issues associated with what actually constitutes evidence in the policy development process at the local government level. With the exception of those who work in an extremely narrow field, it is difficult for local government officers, whose role includes policymaking, to read the vast amount of information that has been published in their area of expertise. For those who are committed to the notion of evidence-based policymaking, as advocated within the WA Public Health Bill, this presents a considerable challenge.

This report is from the Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) and is intended for central and local government agencies to increase their awareness and understanding of Health Impact Assessment (HIA). It states that: "The good health and wellbeing of the population is largely a product of the settings in which people live, work and play. This means that improving the health and wellbeing of the population requires more than the provision of health care services. It requires new ways of working together with new approaches and new tools (PHAC 2006). In September 2006, the Government announced funding to support HIA on new government policy and legislation. The funding will be used to establish an HIA support team to provide agencies with public health information and expertise. HIA experience is growing in New Zealand and internationally. Evaluations in New Zealand show positive responses to the process by agencies who have undertaken HIA. Completed HIAs have significantly influenced the policies and plans being assessed. In addition, HIAs have engaged Maori and other key stakeholders to be actively involved in the policy where there had previously been little involvement. They have also improved relationships across sectors, and resulted in the establishment of jointly-funded secondments and an improved understanding of what influences people’s health and wellbeing." This report is a companion volume to the PHAC’s 2005 publication ' Guide to HIA: a policy tool for New Zealand' Available at: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/0/716C83DA11C4EA81CC25729100730347 See also: http://www.phac.health.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexcm/phac-hia

This list of sunscreen products has been compiled by the Ministry of Health after an evaluation of scientific evidence submitted by sunscreen distributors.

This report from Safe Kids Worldwide states that every: " ... minute of every day, a poison control center [in the US] receives a call about a potential medicine poisoning for a child age five and under. And 67,000 times each year, or every eight minutes, a young child goes to the emergency room for medicine poisoning. This is a 30 percent increase over the past ten years. In its report ... Safe Kids examines data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, information from poison control centers and findings from several focus groups among moms. The report reviews what is happening in households that leads to these disturbing numbers and offers parents simple things they can do to protect their children. ... Tips to Keep Kids Safe Around Medicine - Put medicine and vitamins up and away and out of sight. In 67 percent of emergency room visits for medicine poisoning, the medicine was left within reach of the child, such as in a purse, on a counter, or under a sofa cushion.) - Even if you are tempted to keep it handy, put medicine out of reach after every use. - Look around your home for products you might not think about as harmful, like rubbing alcohol, eye drops or gummy vitamins, and store them out of the reach of children. - When you have guests in your home, offer to put purses, bags and coats where kids can’t get to them. (In 43 percent of emergency room visits for medicine poisoning, the child got into medicine belonging to a relative, such as an aunt, uncle or grandparent.) - Be alert to medicine in places your child visits. Take a look around to make sure there isn’t medicine within reach of your child. - Program the nationwide poison control center number ... [in New Zealand 0800 POISON (0800 764 766)] into your phones." Contains data and statistics.

This is a conference paper presented by Mason Durie, which includes the following headings; 1) Indigenous world views and health, 2) Indigenous health experience, 3) Health determinants, 4) Indigenous strategies for health promotion, and 5) Maori models for health promotion.

This article outlines a case study of an infant who was placed in his car seat on top of the engaged washing machine because his parents hoped the movement of the machine would act as a pacifier. The seat and child fell off the machine and the child suffered head injuries.

The Boston Children's Hospital implemented an inpatient Child Passenger Safety (CPS) program whereby education and car seats were provided to hospitalized children and their families. A computerised nursing assessment tool was used to identify children and families who could benefit from the CPS. The program was piloted on 3 units in 2009, and expanded to all inpatient units in 2010. 3650 children have been assessed, 598 consultations were initiated and 325 families have received CPS education. 419 children received car seats and specialty car seats were loaned to 134 families. The CPS program reached families in need, helping them comply with the child restraint legal and safety requirements.

Despite the rollover risk of quad bikes, there is a paucity of real-world data examining how quad bikes are ridden. This study was commissioned by ACC Research in partnership with Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) and Landcorp Farming Ltd (Landcorp) in order to develop an objective, real-world measurement tool to examine the exposure risks of quad bike use in New Zealand. It examines the actual characteristics of quad bike use on farms within the lower North Island by instrumenting quad bikes and examining driver behaviour over time.

This is a double-sided factsheet from Safekids Canada. One side presents information on an integrated model of addressing hot tap water scalds. Information is presented under the following headings; 1) Research, 2) Surveillance, 3) Policy and advocacy, 4) Education and awareness, and 5) Evaluation. The other side provides an update on tap water scalds prevention in Canada. Changes in building codes and standards will ensure that household hot tap water is at a safer temperature. Safe Kids Canada's advocacy to reduce household hot water temperature to 49 degrees Celsius has been successful on several fronts. Further information is provided under the following three headings; 1) Electric water heaters, 2) National Building and Plumbing Codes, and 3) Provincial action.

Discussion of the development of integrated transport policies in the UK, such as in Northern Ireland where the integration of public transport, land use and transport planning is already underway. and

This paper analyses mortality rates for 3 of the main causes of deaths between the ages of 15 and 34 (motor vehicle injuries, homicide and suicide) from 1950 to 1996, and across 26 countries. Average sex ratios and age patterns and the trends in age- and sex-standardised mortality rates are analysed for each cause. Overall, youth violent mortality levels have been remarkably stable since the 1950s. As mortality due to other causes has receded, the contribution of these three causes has increased from 25 to 40 percent between the mid 1950s and the mid-1970s, and has remained above 40 percent since. Last, a principal component analysis is performed to summarise the variance in age-, sex-, and cause specific rates over time and across countries. This summary representation of international differences displays regional clusters and emphasises the "outlying" position of the United States among industrialised countries.

This study describes 7813 childhood injuries in Shatin, Hong Kong. Supplementary analyses include developmental specificity of external causes and comparison with international childhood injury data. A large proportion of falls, along with low proportion of poisonings and burns, are characteristics of the childhood injury profile in Hong Kong. From the results of age external cause correspondence analysis, prevention strategies for different external causes should be developmentally specific.

Children ages 6 and 9 years and their parents were surveyed regarding journeys to and from school in Melbourne and Perth (Australia), Montreal (Canada), Auckland (New Zealand), Umea (Sweden) and Baltimore (USA). 13,423 responses revealed large international differences. The children in Australasia mainly travel to school by car, compared with children in other countries who walk and bicycle more frequently. The exposure to risk for child pedestrians in traffic thus varies greatly from country to country.

Twenty-four schools in Wellington were allocated to 2 groups of 12, and their playgrounds audited for hazards. The control group received only playground hazard information while the other group received a health promotion programme, including regualr visits, engineer's reports and assistance obtaining funding. There was a significant reduction of hazards in the intervention schools compared with the control schools after 19 months.

This resource results from the Early Childhood Aquatics initiative which was launched in New Zealand in 2007. 'Active Movement in Water' is a National campaign. The booklet is aimed at parents and caregivers and there are sections on: Active movement in water, Why is active movement in water important?, What is your role in active movement in water, Developing readiness for learning to swim, How learning foundation aquatic skills contributes to brain development. The last page includes sections: 'Be wise around the water with under 5s' and 'Where do i go for more information'. They stress the importance of active supervision, which means "watching your child at all times. Able to provide immediate assistance", "keep young children within sight and reach at all times in and around water" and "never answer the telephone during time in or around water including changing". See also record # 8925.

This booklet describes the range of measures that support product safety in New Zealand. Key stakeholders and agencies in product safety are identified and their roles in product safety described. Information is given about Standards, both voluntary and mandatory. Regulatory actions include product recall, product ban and product modification are also described. Brief Safekids recommendations to reduce the incidence of product related child injury are also included.

This chapter from the book, Injury Research and Prevention: a text gives an overview of the community based injury prevention model, and its history in the Australian context. The community intervention model is concerned with the way in which interventions are organised and the context in which change targeted at injury reduction takes place. The strategies for environmental change, awareness raising, education and behaviour change described in the literature on injury control are all necessary components of community based interventions.

Pamphlet outlining : injury burden to school-age students ; why are schools so important in preventing injuries? ; why would you want to set up a Safe Schools Programme? ; why be a designated International Safe School? ; benefits of improved safety for children, schools and the community ; how to get started.

The Safe Communities Foundation New Zealand (SCFNZ) promotes the growth of community-based safety promotion and injury prevention programmes. Pamphlet outlines : how big is the injury burden in New Zealand ; why is local government leadership so important in building safe communities? ; what is a safe community? ; why would you want to set up a Safe Communities programme? ; advantages of working together to reduce community risks ; how to get started.

In 1998 it was estimated that there were over 1000 barbecue accidents requiring medical treatment in the UK. This report contains recommendations that aim to improve the level of safety associated with barbecue use.

This thesis reports on an investigation into the attiutude of parents to their children crossing roads which were selected to provide a range of flows, speeds and visibilities. The aim of the project was to investigate the parents' perception of danger from road traffic by using the percentage of children not allowed to cross certain roads unaccompanied as a proxy measure of danger.

This thesis investigates a series of hypotheses about how ethnicity is related to pedestrian injury risk in London. Five studies analysed quantitative data sources to: (i) identify any ethnic differences in the quality of the road environment where children live; (ii) estimate the quantity of travel-time that children spend exposed to road traffic; (iii) examine whether night-time exposure is more hazardous for minority ethnic children; (iv) explore the relationship between ethnicity, deprivation and injury risk controlling for the quantity and quality of pedestrian exposure; and (v) examine whether ‘group density’ effects can shed light on the relationship between ethnicity, deprivation and injury risk. There was little evidence of differences in the quality of the road environment where ‘White’, ‘Black’ and ‘Asian’ children live. There was no evidence of a difference in the quantity of travel-time pedestrian exposure between ‘White’ and ‘Black’ children and some evidence that ‘Asian’ children walk less than their counterparts. There was no evidence that night-time exposure is more hazardous for minority ethnic children. Controlling for the quantity and quality of exposure changed the relationship between ethnicity, deprivation, and injury risk such that rates among ‘Black’ children were highest in the most affluent areas. ‘Group density’ effects may explain these findings. The quantity and quality of exposure are important mediators of child pedestrian injury risk, although there was little evidence that they explain ethnic inequalities. The findings from this thesis suggest that that the meaning of pedestrian exposure plays a crucial role in complex pathways linking ethnicity to injury risk. Further investigation of individual causal explanations may have diminishing returns, given the evidence from this study that ethnic differences result from inter-related mechanisms.

The objective of this study was to investigate child restraint/seatbelt use by the indigenous (Maori) population in Northland New Zealand. Observational surveys were conducted at the two main car parks (McDonald’s and the largest supermarket) to determine the number of passengers restrained, the type of restraints, and correct use. Observations were restricted to those who were obviously Maori, based upon the local knowledge of the observer. In addition, face to face questionnaires were administered to Maori whanau/caregivers involved in the care of two or more children for more than three days a week. Results showed that a total of 788 participants were observed. Babies were those most likely to have all occupants restrained correctly (97%), followed by toddlers (66%), adults (56%), and school age children (48%); 138 interviews were conducted. Females (86%) were significantly more likely to ensure that all passengers were restrained on short journeys compared to males (67%; p<0.05). Respondents under 45 (80%) were significantly less likely to restrain child passengers compared to people aged 45 or older (91%; p<0.05). This study highlights the problem that larger families in this study had in providing correct child restraints for all their children.

Seat belt use on Spain’s highways is more than 80%, while on the urban roads this figure is around 50%. As there was little information available to explain the difference in seat belt use rates, the main aim of this study was to investigate why there is a lower rate of seat belt use on urban roads. A number of perceptions, beliefs and expectancies about seat belt use were examined to identify variables that discriminated between seat belt users and non-users on urban roads. The subjects were 398 undergraduate students (aged 17–47) studying at the University of Girona, Spain. On the urban roads reported discomfort from using the seat belt was higher, while perceptions of risk (for non-users), safety perceptions (for those using a seat belt), beliefs about the seriousness of a crash or the effectiveness of the seat belt were all lower than on the highway. Perceptions of safety, discomfort, and social influence predicted seat belt use on urban roads. Concern about being fined for not using a seat belt did not predict seat belt use. The results of this research suggest that in order to increase seat belt use on urban roads, the issue of discomfort must be addressed. In addition, prevention campaigns should include information about the effectiveness of the seat belt in preventing/reducing injuries or deaths on urban roads. The results also highlight the importance of social influence for determining seat belt use/non-use and the potential role social influence could play in increasing seat belt usage.

The reported study employed a virtual reality (VR) system, using a head mounted display (HMD), to investigate road crossing behavior in children and young adults. Younger children (aged 5–9 years) made the greatest number of unsafe road crossings and the oldest participants (aged >19 years) the fewest. Overall performance was better (fewer unsafe road crossings) in uniform speed than uniform distance trials, consistent with previous research suggesting that pedestrians base road crossing decisions on inter-vehicle distance rather than vehicle speed. Results are discussed in terms of road crossing behavior and the use of VR simulations in the study of pedestrian behavior.

The most common type of school bus crash resulting in injury and death involves the "rollover" mechanism, which may be linked to bus design. To investigate this possibility, the authors carried out a detailed investigation of a severe school bus crash. The crash involved 12 children, passengers in the school bus. Analysis included the determination of crash dynamics by examination of physical evidence at the crash site and deformation sustained by the structure of the bus and the other vehicle involved. The mechanism of injury was determined by comparing physical evidence collected inside the bus to injuries sustained by the children. Results showed that two children sustained severe injuries and 1 child was killed. The most common injuries involved the head, neck and shoulder as demonstrated by 3 illustrative reports. Specified changes to school bus design, based on mechanism of injury to the occupants include, in addition to the compartmentalization now in effect, more padding to the sides of the bus, over the window headers and on the panelling between the windows. In conclusion, injuries to the head, neck and spine are the most common types when children are involved in rollover school bus collisions. For additional safety, changes to the current bus design are needed.

Article looks at one particular accident when a furniture removal employee tripped and fell and a washing machine landed on top of him. The author analyses the event, cause and effect and discusses prevention strategies.

An analysis of numbers, types and trends in playground falls over the period 1990-1994 is given plus data showing trends in all children's accidents and injuries.

The aims of this study were: -to describe the characteristics of unintentional drowning involving children aged five years and under -to identify factors associated with and causes of unintentional drownings in swimming pools, baths and other natural bodies of water -to look for common factors across cases that could provide direction for action to prevent similar incidents occurring in the future. Results are presented and some recommendations are made.