Strategies to Increase the Use of Child Safety Seats among Toddlers. Volume 1

Kernish, Robert; London, Lizabeth · 1987 · ROSA P / United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This 1987 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigates strategies to increase the use of child safety seats (CSSs) among toddlers, a demographic with significantly lower usage rates than infants. The study was motivated by the high prevalence of toddler nonuse and the fact that unrestrained children under four were nearly twice as likely to be killed in accidents than those involved in alcohol-related crashes. The primary objectives were to identify parent attitudes toward CSS use and nonuse, determine the motives behind these behaviors, and evaluate potential strategies for converting nonusers into users. The research methodology combined a literature review with qualitative group depth interviews. Researchers conducted 15 focus groups in New Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina during the spring of 1986, recruiting parents of infants (one to nine months) and toddlers (two to three years). Participants were categorized as self-reported users or nonusers. The study focused on toddler nonuse due to its greater prevalence and researchability, noting that infant seat use is viewed as socially normal, whereas toddler seat use is often abandoned. Key findings revealed that parenting habits, rather than child behavior or income levels, differentiate users from nonusers. Users demonstrate greater tenacity and commitment to restraint. Nonusers, who had typically used CSSs for infants, abandoned them due to toddler misbehavior, perceived inconvenience, seat design flaws, and the arrival of a new sibling displacing the toddler from a convertible seat. Crucially, many nonusers viewed standard safety belts as an acceptable alternative, perceiving CSS laws as having low enforcement probability and trivial fines. When tested against various programmatic concepts, participants identified stiffer legal penalties—such as heavy fines, license points, or insurance rate increases—as the most promising deterrents. Subtle fear arousal, such as testimonials regarding injury consequences, was also effective. Conversely, guilt-inducing messages, comparisons to child abuse, and positive incentives like discounts were rejected as offensive, patronizing, or ineffective. The report concludes that increasing CSS use requires a multifaceted approach involving enforcement, hardware improvement, and targeted communication. Recommendations include strengthening legal penalties and publicizing enforcement to make them credible, investigating seat design shortcomings, and providing parents with better information on laws and seat features. Promotional messages should address parental emotions in an unthreatening manner and target specific groups, such as parents of toddlers at risk of displacement by newborns and older toddlers themselves, to counteract the perception that seats are "babyish." The study emphasizes that successful intervention requires cooperation among manufacturers, government officials, educators, and community organizations.

Key finding

Parents identified stiffer legal penalties, including heavy fines and license points, as the most promising strategy for converting toddler safety seat nonusers into users, while guilt-inducing messages and positive incentives were rejected as ineffective.

Methodology

other

Sample size: 15

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• child passenger safety
• seat belt use

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence