Citation

Durbin DR, Kallan M, Elliott M, Arbogast KB, Cornejo RA, Winston FK. Annu. Proc. Assoc. Adv. Automot. Med. 2002; 46: 15-25.

Affiliation

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12361497

Abstract

The number of children killed by passenger airbags (PAB) has declined dramatically in recent years. However, little is known about how commonly children are exposed to PAB, and their risk of nonfatal injuries. Data between 12/1/98 and 11/30/01 from the Partners for Child Passenger Safety study, a unique child-focused crash surveillance system, were used to determine the risk of nonfatal injuries to restrained children in frontal impact crashes. Nearly 1% of all children in crashes were exposed to a deploying PAB. A specific pattern of facial, chest, and upper extremity injuries were found to be significantly more likely in airbag -exposed children. These real-world data may be of use to vehicle manufacturers and restraint suppliers as they face design decisions with regard to child passengers.