Safety seats reduce serious injury risk

CHICAGO, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Lap-and-shoulder seat belts perform as well as child safety seats in preventing serious injury, U.S. researchers said.

However, safety seats tend to be better at reducing less serious injuries.

Steven D. Levitt of the University of Chicago, the author of the book "Freakonomics," and Joseph J. Doyle of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology analyzed three large representative samples of crashes reported to police, as well as linked hospital data, among motor vehicle passengers ages 2 to 6. The researchers used the data to compare seat belts and child safety seats in preventing injury.

All states require the use of child safety seats -- and the minimum age and weight requirements to graduate to seat belts -- has been increasing over time.

Results show that lap-and-shoulder seat belts perform as well as child safety seats in preventing serious injury, but safety seats were associated with a statistically significant 25 percent reduction in less serious injuries. Lap belts are somewhat less effective than the other two types of restraints, but far superior to riding unrestrained, the study said.

The findings are published in the journal Economic Inquiry.