Children in cars: The role of in-vehicle behaviour in child occupant protection

Aims were to examine what parents say, think and believe about child restraint system (CRS) use and child travel safety, and how children were restrained and behaving in their CRS during every-day car trips. The research comprised three stages. Stage 1 used an online survey to explore parental beliefs about CRS use and child occupant safety. Stages 2 and 3 used a naturalistic driving study. Stage 2 identified characteristics of child occupant travel. Stage 3 identified the travel characteristics (familial-, child-, trip-related) associated with suboptimal head positions for child occupants when travelling in a forward-facing CRS or a booster seat.