CSN Discuss Bulletin

Traffic Safety

January 2005

This bulletin comes to you from the Children's Safety Network through CSN Discuss, an electronic forum for the discussion of child and adolescent injury and violence prevention and related issues.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

News and Conferences
  1. Child Passenger Safety Week
  2. Lifesavers 2005
  3. National Conference on Transporting Students with Disabilities and Preschoolers
  4. Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) Annual Meeting
  5. Partners for Passenger Safety website
  6. Safe Routes to School National Training Course: Call for Applicants
Articles and Reports (Focus on Adolescent Drivers)
  1. Poster Session Abstract: 'It's time to get your license'': Do adolescent health providers counsel teenagers on driving behaviors?
  2. Article: Michigan's graduated driver licensing program: Evaluation of the first four years.
  3. Report: Younger Drivers and Sport Utility Vehicles.
  4. Article: Graduated drivers licensing restrictions: Awareness, compliance, and enforcement in North Carolina.

AVAILABILITY

Copies of many items can be delivered to state Maternal and Child Health and state public health staff upon request. Articles available by e-mail are so indicated. Some other articles can be faxed or mailed. To request an article or other publication, e-mail jhudson@edc.org with the item name, delivery preference (e-mail, fax number, or mailing address). This service is restricted to state Maternal and Child Health and state public health staff. Restricted time and resources forbids us from delivering articles to others.

URLs of publications that can be downloaded from the web are included in the bibliographic information.

News and Conferences
  1. Child Passenger Safety Week. February 13 -19, 2005
    The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) planner for CPS Week 2005 will be available in late January, 2005 at www.boosterseat.gov. Resources will include radio announcement, print advertisements, sample news releases, letters to the editor, and other material.
  2. Lifesavers 2005: National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities.
    Lifesavers is the premier national highway safety meeting in the United States. The conference addresses a wide range of safety topics, from child passenger safety and occupant protection to roadway and vehicle safety and technology. It offers the latest information on advances in highway safety, highlights successful programs and draws attention to emerging safety issues. The 2005 Lifesavers Conference will be held from March 13 -15, 2005 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pre-conference training sessions will address Transporting Children with Special Needs and the CPS Curriculum for School Buses. Early registration deadline is January 28, 2005. For more information, see www.lifesaversconference.org/index.htm
  3. National Conference on Transporting Students with Disabilities and Preschoolers.
    This national conference offers practical solutions, workable answers, best practices and advice for people who transport children with disabilities. The conference helps practitioners achieve safe, compliant special needs transportation. Attendees include transportation directors and supervisors, bus drivers and trainers, company officers and other practitioners. The conference will be held on March 11 - 16, 2005 in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit www.eduprogroup.com/.
  4. Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) Annual meeting. The Annual Meeting of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) will be held on August 28-31, 2005, in Norfolk, Virginia. More information will be available later this year at www.ghsa.org/html/meetings_main.html.
  5. Partners for Passenger Safety website
    The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has released its updated child passenger safety web site. The Partners for Passenger Safety website features information to help parents protect children of all ages – from instructions on installing infant safety seats to information on how to reinforce safe driving habits for teens. Much of the information is organized by developmental stage. There are also sections about buying a safe car, locating free safety seat checks, and “special travel circumstances” that addresses issues including transporting premature babies or children with special needs. The Partners for Passenger Safety website can be found at www.chop.edu/carseat.
  6. Safe Routes to School National Training Course: Call for Applicants
    The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) has announced a call for applicants to become the initial group of instructors for the Safe Routes to School (SR2S) National Training Course. This training will be held February 28-March 4, 2005 in Tucson, Arizona. Applications for this training are due by 1 P.M. (Eastern Time) on January 5, 2005.

    The instructors trained in Tucson will deliver the course at the local and state levels starting in late Spring 2005 and play an integral role in the training of future instructors. This training opportunity is for individuals who already possess relevant expertise and experience and are committed to reaching communities around the country that need assistance in creating safe routes to school. Additional training opportunities will be available for a broader audience in late 2005.

    For more information on this opportunity, see the PBIC website at www.pedbikeinfo.org or call PBIC toll-free phone at 1-877-925-5245 (877-WALKBIKE).
Articles and Reports (Focus on Adolescent Drivers)
  1. Meyer TL, D'Angelo LJ.
    'It's time to get your license: Do adolescent health providers counsel teenagers on driving behaviors? Journal of Adolescent Health. 2004 Feb; 34(2): 131.

    This study investigates whether adolescent health physicians counseled teenagers and parents on the dangers of driving behavior. Researchers administered a survey to adolescent health physicians and pediatricians and found that the majority (approximately 80 percent) counsel teenage patients about the dangers of substance use while driving, avoiding getting into a car with someone who has been using substances, wearing seat belts, and wearing helmets while riding bicycles or motorcycles. However, very few providers (approximately 10 percent) warn teenagers about driving a car at night or about not carrying teenage passengers in the car.

    This demonstrates that there is an opportunity for injury prevention professionals to educate physicians on graduated driver licensing laws in their state; develop and distribute effective educational materials on this topic; and work with other health department colleagues to increase the capacity of physicians in counseling adolescents on a range of health and prevention issues.

    Availability: E-mail or hard copy (poster session abstract only).
  2. Shope JT, Molnar LJ.
    Michigan's graduated driver licensing program: Evaluation of the first four years. Journal of Safety Research. 2004;35(3):337-44.

    This study compared motor-vehicle crash data for 16-year-old drivers before and after Michigan’s graduated driver licensing program was implemented. Researchers found significant reductions in crash risk among 16-year-olds for day, evening, and night crashes; single-vehicle and multi-vehicle crashes; and fatal and non-fatal crashes.

    Availability: Hard copy only
  3. Kindelberger J, Eigen AM.
    Younger drivers and sport utility vehicles.
    Traffic Safety Facts Research Note. 2003 September DOT HS 809 636

    This research note concerns the risks associated with younger drivers in SUVs and highlights rollovers in older SUV models. As a group, 16-24 year olds are more likely to roll over in SUV crashes. Inexperience, gender, and age of vehicle have been shown to influence crash rates. This report can be found online at:
    www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/RNotes/2003/809-636/Younger%20Drivers/    .
  4. Goodwin, AH, Foss, RD
    Graduated drivers licensing restrictions: Awareness, compliance, and enforcement in North Carolina Journal of Safety Research. 2004; 35(4): 367-374

    This study examined parents’ and teenagers’ knowledge of and compliance with North Carolina’s graduated licensing restrictions. Most teenagers and their parents were aware of the night driving restriction and passenger restriction. There was very low awareness of the seat belt requirement. Teenage violations of the passenger restriction without parental knowledge were higher than the nighttime restriction. Most parents and teenagers do not know whether police enforce the law. A violation cited by a police officer would be very meaningful, since it would delay by six months the teen’s ability to graduate to a full license. With greater police involvement, such as highly publicized enforcement efforts, parents and teenagers would be more aware of, and more likely to follow the law.

    Availability: Hard copy only

Next month's CSN Discuss Bulletin will focus on School Injury/Violence Prevention.

Please direct questions about this bulletin to Erica Streit at:

Children's Safety Network
Education Development Center
55 Chapel Street
Newton, MA 02458
Phone: (617) 618-2178
Fax: (617) 969-9186
E-mail: estreit@edc.org
www.childrenssafetynetwork.org/