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| Since January 1, 2007, it is the law in Nova Scotia for children that are under 145 cm (4' 9") or under age nine to be in a booster seat while traveling in a vehicle. (Photo courtesy Child Safety Link) |
Beth Bruce has heard a lot of reasons from parents why their school-aged children aren鈥檛 using booster seats. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just going on a short trip.鈥� 鈥淢y child is too big.鈥� 鈥淗e feels like a sissy.鈥� 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to argue with her.鈥�
鈥淭here are whole scenarios parents will give us,鈥� says Dr. Bruce, of 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Faculty of Health Professions and Department of Surgery. 鈥淏ut what we don鈥檛 know is why those things convince them to put their children at risk.鈥�
School-aged children in Canada are 10 times more likely than children in other age groups to die or sustain severe injury in road crashes. Misuse of safety seats and failure to use of booster seats use are primarily responsible for these high rates of automobile deaths and injuries.
Dr. Bruce was recently awarded $438,000 from AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence to improve our understanding of parents鈥� use of booster seats. Using a booster seat correctly reduces risk of injury by 70 per cent and death by 90 per cent.
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A national 2006 Transport Canada study reported that at least 70 per cent of Canadian children aged four to nine years were not in a booster seat. In Nova Scotia the rate is 65 per cent. Of those Nova Scotia children who were not in a booster seat and were involved in a car crash, 83 per cent suffered an injury requiring hospital treatment.
Since January 1, 2007, it is the law in Nova Scotia for children that are under 145 cm (4' 9") or under age nine to be in a booster seat while traveling in a vehicle. A booster seat protects a child鈥檚 small body in a crash and raises them up so the adult seatbelt fits properly.
鈥淚t seems people are aware of the legislation, but they鈥檙e still not complying,鈥� says Dr. Bruce.
Children from birth to the age of one year are safest in rear-facing child safety seats. Over the age of one and 10 kg (22 lb) and babies can move to a forward-facing car seat with a tether strap. Many children outgrow the forward-facing car seat at approximately four-and-a-half, graduating to a booster seat.
鈥淧eople have gotten the message with the younger children but not so much with the older children, which is why we鈥檙e doing the research.鈥�
The AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence currently supports more than 300 researchers working on 54 auto-related research and development projects at 43 Canadian universities and institutions. An annual $11-million budget of public and private sector funding supports research in six key areas, including health; safety and injury prevention; and societal issues.
Dr. Bruce鈥檚 work is also supported by , , Magna International, 麻豆传媒, , and the