Issue No. 12, June 2009

Pilot Studies Begin for New Child Passenger Safety Initiative

Working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), CHOP researchers will begin pilot studies in July for the National Child Occupant Special Study (NCOSS). The studies will develop and validate telephone, hard copy, and Web-based survey instruments, recruitment techniques, and data management processes for this new child-focused crash surveillance system. NCOSS would leverage NHTSA’s existing intrastructure, the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS), to monitor key child occupant protection trends, inform evidence-based public policy, and help enhance vehicle safety technology and restraint systems for children, youths, and young adults. Currently there is no child-focused crash surveillance system in the U.S. The Center for Injury Research and Prevention at CHOP is committed to securing long-term funding for this new system.

To learn more about this proposed system, download The Future of Child Passenger Safety Surveillance.

To learn more about the need to restore and enhance the nations' capabilities to collect real-world crash data to inform evidence-based transportation policy read this white paper, which has been endorsed by many different automotive safety stakeholders.

Contact Suzanne Hill at hillsu@email.chop.edu with questions regarding this important advocacy effort.

Five More States Adopt Comprehensive GDL Laws

The governors of Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia recently signed legislation to enact more comprehensive Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws to protect teen drivers. While almost every state has some aspect of GDL in place, many do not have laws considered optimal. The restrictions that were added in these five states limit nighttime driving and passengers and also extend the period of time to full licensure.

New Jersey also recently passed a landmark GDL law, known as “Kyleigh’s law,” which, when put into effect, will make New Jersey the first state in the country to require new drivers to display a decal on their bumper. While little research has been done on the effectiveness of the decal, multiple countries have required similar special plates including Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The decal policy will help law enforcement to identify violators and to enforce New Jersey’s GDL laws.

Several studies estimate a crash reduction of up to 40 percent in states with strong GDL laws. GDL is one of the few tools proven effective in reducing new teen driver crashes and deaths. The objective of GDL is to keep teens out of high risk driving situations while permitting them to gain on-road experience in low risk environments.

Suzanne Hill, CIRP's director of Advocacy and Outreach, recently shared her thoughts on why GDL works to keep teens safer on the road in an article in the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal.

Read the article.
Learn more about GDL.

New Site Helps Parents and Children Cope After An Injury

In late May when “trauma season” in our nation’s emergency rooms officially begins, the Center for Injury Research and Prevention launched its award-winning site, www.AfterTheInjury.org. Based on nearly a decade of research on emotional reactions to injury by CHOP pediatricians, psychologists, and trauma experts and tested with families, the site offers on-line information, 24 hours a day, to help parents and children cope with pediatric injuries after they occur and to promote full physical and emotional recovery.

AfterTheInjury.org also is in the blogosphere. A social media campaign is bringing the site to web-savvy parents as a trusted resource to help them help their children recover after an injury. To be updated with facts, tips, and the latest news coverage, visit www.AfterTheInjury.org or the site’s Twitter page.

Read the press release.

Taking a Special Teen Driver Safety Initiative On the Road

Outreach Managers at the Center’s Young Driver Research Initiative (YDRI) will be traveling over the summer to meet with members of five national organizations at their annual conferences. These organizations have missions that focus on preventive health and traffic safety and deliver evidence-based programming to teens and parents. Ride Like A Friend/ Drive Like You Care (RLAF) promotional materials will be on display. YDRI staff will be asking for feedback on how to best optimize these materials in attendees’ communities.

RLAF is a peer-to-peer school-based initiative piloted in two Pennsylvania schools during 2008 National Teen Driver Safety Week (NTDSW).  RLAF was developed after CHOP conducted formative research with teens and stakeholders. The web-based campaign encourages driver and passenger behaviors that reduce crash risk, including wearing a seat belt, minimizing distractions, and respecting the driver. Look for Verna Cole, PhD, YDRI Network Manager, and Karen Holm, MPH, YDRI Outreach Manager, at the Students Against Destructive Driving (SADD) meeting in July and the National Association of Student Councils Conference later this month.

Those interested in implementing RLAF in a school or schools in their community are encouraged to join the RLAF Network to be the first to learn when updated materials for the 2010 campaign are available. Network members also will gain access to support materials and webinars to help them plan a successful campaign in their community. To join the network, log on here.

Child Passenger Safety Materials Now Available Online

The Center recently updated its library of educational charts and images to reflect Partners for Child Passenger Safety data through 2007 and more recent published studies. These downloadable reference tools are designed to be used by educators, advocates, and parents to demonstrate the effectiveness of child restraints and to illustrate the impact of improved child passenger safety laws across the country. Child passenger safety advocates also can download an updated legislative fact sheet to help educate legislators about the importance of laws requiring child restraints to age 8 and rear seating to age 13.

Download these child passenger safety charts and images.

Download the legislative update.

Center Leader Honored for Scientific Excellence

Flaura Koplin-Winston, MD, PhD, founder and co-scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention, has been chosen to receive the Excellence in Science Award from the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services section of The American Public Health Association. Dr. Winston will be awarded this prestigious honor at the group’s annual meeting in Philadelphia in November. She will be recognized for her outstanding dedication and leadership in the science of injury control and emergency health services and for her significant achievements that have greatly impacted the field. Dr. Winston is the principal investigator for the Young Driver Research Initiative at CHOP and director of the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS).

Recent Presentations from the Injury Center

• Arbogast KB. Child Restraint Systems In Side Impact Crashes. Japanese Society of Automotive Engineers Annual Congress. Yokohama, Japan. May 20, 2009.
• Arbogast KB. In-depth Field Investigations of Belt-Restrained Children in Farside Crashes. The 21st Annual International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles.  Stuttgart, Germany. June 16, 2009.
• Arbogast KB. Methodology for Coding Injury Causation Scenarios and Injury Mechanisms. Japanese Society of Automotive Engineers Biomechanics Workshop. Tokyo, Japan. May 19, 2009.
• Arbogast KB. Reconstruction of a Real World Crash Involving A Child Using Hybrid III 10 Year Old and 5th Percentile ATDs. The 21st Annual International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles.  Stuttgart, Germany. June 16, 2009.
• Balasubramanian S. Spinal Trajectories in Children and Adults Exposed to Low Speed Frontal Acceleration. Japanese Society of Automotive Engineers Annual Congress.Yokohama, Japan.  May 20, 2009.
• Cole V. Using Evidence and Collective Wisdom. Third Annual Statewide Driver Education Forum. Long Branch, NJ. May 21, 2009.
• Hafetz J. NYDS: Cell Phone Use While Driving. Association for Psychological Science. San Francisco, CA. May 23, 2009.
• Hausman  A, Hohol B, Branas C, Vaughn N, and Thomas N. Closing the Loop: Identifying, Translating, and Demonstrating Community Expressed Indicators of Successful Violence Prevention Using Community Based Participatory Research. The Society for Prevention Research. Washington, DC. May 27, 2009 (Poster Presentation).
• Hill S. Evaluation of a Peer-to-peer School-based Initiative. Montana Driver Education and Training Conference. Great Falls, MT. April 27, 2009.
• Kassam-Adams N. AfterTheInjury.org: Development of a Web-based Information and Secondary Prevention Resource for Parents of Injured Children. NATO Advanced Research Workshop on the Internet and Mental Health. Montreal. May 15, 2009.
• Kassam-Adams N. Responding to Acute Child Trauma in Different Contexts Worldwide: Can We Effectively Integrate Screening and Secondary Prevention Within Health Care Settings? European Conference on Traumatic Stress. Oslo, Norway. June 2009.
• Kassam-Adams N. and Winston F. Secondary Prevention of Traumatic Stress: Web-Based Information for Parents of Injured Children. European Conference on Traumatic Stress. Oslo, Norway. June 15-18, 2009.
• Nance ML. Early Indicators of Major Trauma in Children. Seventh International Conference on Pediatric Trauma. San Juan, Puerto Rico. May 27, 2009.

Recent Publications from the Injury Center

• Arbogast KB, Kallan MJ, and Durbin DR. Front Versus Rear Seat Injury Risk for Child Passengers: Evaluation of Newer Model Year Vehicles. Traffic Injury Prevention. Vol. 10. June 2009.