TP 2436
Road Safety Leaflet # CL 9804 E
1998
Transport Canada periodically conducts observational surveys to determine the
use of child restraints. Children are observed in vehicles stopped at traffic
lights and stop signs during daylight hours to determine the type of restraints
used for children under 16 years of age.
The fifth national survey of child restraint use was conducted during the
week of July 25 to July 31, 1997 at 206 sites across Canada. The data in
this leaflet are based on 22,037 observations of children under 16. Except for
Table 4 which shows proper use of appropriate restraints, the data presented in
the leaflet is weighted according to community population and provincial
population.
Types of Restraint Used
Table 1 presents the use and non-use of restraints for
each of the various age groups in the survey. The results show that 87.1% of
the children observed used seat belts or child restraints, while the remainder
were unrestrained. Restraint usage was lowest for the 5-9 year olds (84.6%)
and highest for the age group under 1 year (95.7%).
Table 1
Type of Restraint by Age Group
in Percent from 1997 Survey |
Restraint
type used |
Age Group |
Under 1 |
1 - 2 |
3 - 4 |
1 - 4* |
5 - 9 |
10 - 15 |
Total |
Infant Carrier |
69.9 |
6.1 |
0.2 |
2.6 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
4.1 |
Child Seat |
25.3 |
81.1 |
39.9 |
56.7 |
1.3 |
0.0 |
15.6 |
Booster Seat |
0.2 |
3.2 |
17.2 |
11.5 |
4.5 |
0.1 |
4.7 |
Seat Belt |
0.3 |
4.4 |
30.9 |
20.1 |
78.9 |
85.7 |
62.7 |
Total Restrained |
95.7 |
94.8 |
88.2 |
90.9 |
84.6 |
85.9 |
87.1 |
Total Unrestrained |
4.3 |
5.2 |
11.8 |
9.1 |
15.4 |
14.1 |
12.9 |
*This age group is included so that comparison with 1989 survey results is
possible.
Illustrations of Different Styles of Restraints
Booster Seats or Cushions
|
|
|
|
Low back with shield |
Low back with no shield |
High back soft foam |
High back hard shell |
Convertible Child Restraints
|
|
|
5-point harness |
Shield (arm) |
T-shield |
Infant restraints
|
|
Infant restraint - with base |
Infant restraint - no base |
Proper Restraint Use by Province and Age
The survey results presented in Table 2 show the
percentages of children in restraints appropriate to their ages, i.e., under 1
year - infant carrier or child seat; 1-2 years - infant carrier or child seat;
3-4 years - child seat; booster seat or seat belt; 5-9 years - booster seat or
seat belt; 10-15 years - seat belt.
Across Canada, 85.6% of children surveyed were using appropriate types of
restraints. The youngest age group (under 1 year) turned in the highest
percentage (95.3%) and the 5-9 year olds the lowest (83.4%). For all age
groups combined, the provincial totals ranged from 82.1% in Newfoundland to
90.2% in Nova Scotia.
Table 2
Proper
Restraint Use by Province and Age in Percent from 1997 Survey
|
Age |
B.C |
Alta. |
Sask. |
Man. |
Ont. |
Que. |
N.B |
N.S |
P.E.I. |
Nfld. |
Canada |
Under 1 year |
96.0 |
95.8 |
94.6 |
89.2 |
94.6 |
96.8 |
89.2 |
94.6 |
100.0 |
96.8 |
95.3 |
1-2 years |
88.2 |
82.0 |
73.4 |
89.3 |
88.8 |
86.9 |
89.3 |
86.5 |
84.0 |
81.1 |
87.2 |
3-4 years |
86.0 |
86.6 |
81.4 |
85.0 |
85.7 |
94.0 |
85.0 |
92.4 |
90.4 |
84.6 |
88.0 |
1-4 years |
87.0 |
84.9 |
78.3 |
86.5 |
87.0 |
91.1 |
90.2 |
90.0 |
87.9 |
83.0 |
87.6 |
Under 5 years |
88.3 |
87.2 |
81.0 |
86.9 |
88.2 |
92.2 |
86.9 |
90.7 |
90.0 |
84.6 |
88.9 |
5-9 years |
84.2 |
79.0 |
86.3 |
83.2 |
81.9 |
85.5 |
83.2 |
92.7 |
83.5 |
81.8 |
83.4 |
10-15 years |
85.2 |
84.1 |
86.0 |
88.2 |
84.4 |
88.3 |
88.2 |
86.0 |
86.0 |
80.3 |
85.7 |
Under 16 years |
85.7 |
82.7 |
84.4 |
85.6 |
84.3 |
88.3 |
85.6 |
90.2 |
85.5 |
82.1 |
85.6 |
Proper Use of Appropriate Restraints
Table 3 shows proper use of appropriate restraints for
children under 16. Proper use is determined according to the criteria for each
of the restraint types. An infant carrier is considered to be properly used
only if the harness is in use, the vehicle belt is used to restrain the
carrier to the vehicle (for infant-only seats) and the carrier is installed
facing the rear of the vehicle. A child seat is considered to be properly used
only if the harness is in use, the child seat is secured with the vehicle seat
belt and tether strap is used. A booster seat is considered to be properly
used if the vehicle seat belt is used to secure the seat. If a 3-4 year
old child is secured by a vehicle seat belt, then he/she is considered to be
properly secured. If any one of the required criteria is not observed, it is
excluded from the data analysis. The estimated proper use for children under 5
years of age was 76.1% in 1997, an increase of 18% from 1989.
Table 3
Proper Use of
Appropriate Restraints by Province and Age
in Percent from 1997 Survey
|
Age |
B.C |
Alta. |
Sask. |
Man. |
Ont. |
Que. |
N.B |
N.S |
P.E.I. |
Nfld. |
Canada |
Under 1 year |
66.8 |
65.2 |
75.1 |
64.7 |
73.0 |
74.7 |
35.2 |
81.0 |
80.0 |
83.2 |
71.4 |
1-2 years |
67.1 |
66.6 |
80.3 |
70.9 |
65.6 |
66.5 |
41.3 |
69.5 |
65.0 |
82.3 |
65.9 |
3-4 years |
87.6 |
84.6 |
94.8 |
91.7 |
75.8 |
89.3 |
87.8 |
93.3 |
96.8 |
98.0 |
84.1 |
1-4 years |
78.7 |
78.3 |
89.9 |
84.8 |
71.9 |
80.0 |
67.6 |
85.3 |
87.4 |
92.0 |
77.2 |
Under 5 years |
76.8 |
75.2 |
87.2 |
81.5 |
72.1 |
79.6 |
64.3 |
84.5 |
86.1 |
90.8 |
76.1 |
5-9 years |
100.0 |
99.9 |
99.8 |
99.5 |
99.7 |
99.8 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
99.8 |
100.0 |
99.8 |
10-15 years |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
All cases |
94.0 |
93.4 |
96.2 |
95.0 |
92.0 |
94.1 |
86.3 |
96.2 |
97.4 |
97.9 |
93.3 |
Infant Carriers and Child Seats
Table 4 provides the percentage of correct and incorrect
use of infant and child restraints. In 70.1% of the cases, the infant carriers
were correctly used in all respects. However, in 25% of the cases, the infant
carriers were incorrectly installed in a forward-facing position in the vehicle.
In 66.5% of the cases, the child seats were correctly used. The most common
error (32.8% of the cases) was the failure to install the tether strap which is
required in order to limit the forward movement of the seat in a collision.
Table 4
Proper Use of Appropriate Restraints
|
Infant Carrier
|
Number |
Percent |
Correctly used (seat belt, harness and carrier backward
facing)
|
549 |
70.1 |
No harness fastened (seat belt used and carrier backward
facing)
|
27 |
3.4 |
No seat belt used (harness used and carrier backward
facing)
|
5 |
0.6 |
Carrier forward facing (seat belt used and harness used)
|
180 |
23.0 |
Carrier forward facing and no harness used (seat belt
only used)
|
11 |
1.4 |
Carrier forward facing and no seat belt used (harness
only used)
|
5 |
0.6 |
No seat belt and no harness used ( carrier only
installed forward facing)
|
3 |
0.4 |
No harness, no seat belt and no backward facing carrier
|
3 |
0.4 |
Total
|
783 |
100.0 |
|
|
|
Child Seat
|
Number |
Percent |
Correctly used (seat belt, harness and tether used)
|
1054 |
66.5 |
No harness fastened (seat belt used and tether used)
|
26 |
1.6 |
No seat belt used (tether used and harness used)
|
5 |
0.3 |
No tether used (harness used and seat belt used)
|
434 |
27.4 |
No tether and no harness used (seat belt only used)
|
3 |
1.9 |
No tether and no seat belt used (harness only used)
|
55 |
3.5 |
No seat belt and no harness used (tether only used)
|
2 |
0.1 |
No tether, no harness and no seat belt used
|
7 |
0.4 |
Total
|
1586 |
100.0 |
Overall Proper Use
Table 5 shows the estimated overall proper use of
child restraints, taking into account both correct installation and harness
use. The overall proper use of child restraints increased from 40.8% in 1989
to 67.7% in 1997. Table 5 also shows that the overall proper use for children
under 16 years of age was 79.9%, an increase of 28.9% from the 51.0% recorded
in 1989.
Table 5
Overall Proper Use by Province and Age
In Percent from 1997 Survey
|
Age
|
B.C. |
Alta. |
Sask. |
Man. |
Ont. |
Que. |
N.B |
N.S |
P.E.I. |
Nfld. |
Canada |
Under 1 year
|
64.1 |
62.5 |
71.0 |
57.7 |
69.1 |
72.3 |
31.4 |
76.6 |
80.0 |
80.5 |
68.0 |
1-2 years
|
59.2 |
54.6 |
58.9 |
63.3 |
58.3 |
57.8 |
36.9 |
60.0 |
54.6 |
66.7 |
57.5 |
3-4 years
|
75.3 |
73.3 |
77.2 |
77.9 |
65.0 |
83.9 |
74.6 |
86.2 |
87.5 |
82.9 |
74.0 |
1-4 years
|
68.5 |
66.5 |
70.4 |
73.4 |
62.6 |
72.9 |
61 |
76.8 |
76.8 |
76.4 |
67.6 |
Under 5 years
|
67.4 |
65.6 |
70.6 |
70.8 |
63.6 |
73.4 |
55.9 |
76.6 |
77.5 |
76.8 |
67.7 |
5-9 years
|
84.2 |
78.2 |
86.1 |
82.8 |
81.7 |
85.3 |
83.2 |
92.7 |
83.3 |
81.8 |
88.7 |
10-15 years
|
85.2 |
84.1 |
86.0 |
88.2 |
84.4 |
88.3 |
88.2 |
86.0 |
86.0 |
80.3 |
85.7 |
All cases
|
80.6 |
77.2 |
81.2 |
81.3 |
77.6 |
83.1 |
73.9 |
86.8 |
83.3 |
80.4 |
79.9 |
|