Seated for Safety: Child passenger safety educational materials in the United States: Content, availability, accuracy, and appropriateness

In the United States between 1994 and 1998, approximately 5,500 motor vehicle passengers aged 12 and under were killed and 660,000 were injured. Contributing factors in the death and injury of these children include inappropriate selection, installation, and use of child restraints; inappropriate "graduation" from child safety seats to seat belts; and improper seating position within the vehicle. Educational materials that teach caregivers how to protect children in motor vehicles are an important part of an overall strategy to reduce child motor vehicle deaths and injuries. Child passenger safety educational materials for parents, caregivers, teachers, and children must provide up-to-date information about the technical aspects of child passenger safety in a manner consistent with the education, culture, and language ability of their audiences. In addition, if the materials are to be useful as educational tools, they must be easy to obtain. This study explored the content and availability of existing child passenger safety educational materials that target lay audiences, identified gaps in this body of materials, and evaluated the technical accuracy of materials and their appropriateness for diverse audiences.