tailieunhanh - EVIDENCE THAT SEAT BELTS ARE AS EFFECTIVE AS CHILD SAFETY SEATS IN PREVENTING DEATH FOR CHILDREN AGED TWO AND UP

For the past hundred years, innovation within the automotive sector has brought major technological advances, leading to safer, cleaner, and more affordable vehicles. But for the most part, since Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line, the changes have been incremental, evolutionary. Now, in the early decades of the 21st century, the industry appears to be on the cusp of revolutionary change—with potential to dramatically reshape not just the competitive landscape but also the way we interact with vehicles and, indeed, the future design of our roads and cities. The revolution, when it comes, will be engendered by the advent. | NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES EVIDENCE THAT SEAT BELTS ARE AS EFFECTIVE AS CHILD SAFETY SEATS IN PREVENTING DEATH FOR CHILDREN AGED TWO AND UP Steven D. Levitt Working Paper 11591 http papers w11591 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge MA 02138 August 2005 I would like to thank Gary Becker Julie Cullen Stephen Dubner Paul Heaton Kevin Murphy Jesse Shapiro and Chad Syverson for helpful comments and discussions. Ethan Lieber and Rachel Tay provided outstanding research assistance. This research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and a research grant from Sherman Shapiro. Mailing address Department of Economics University of Chicago 1126 E. 59th Street Chicago IL 60637. email slevitt@. The views expressed herein are those of the author s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. 2005 by Steven D. Levitt. All rights reserved. Short sections of text not to exceed two paragraphs may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit including notice is given to the source. Evidence that Seat Belts are as Effective as Child Safety Seats in Preventing Death for Children Aged Two and Up Steven D. Levitt NBER Working Paper No. 11591 August 2005 JeL No. K2 R4 ABSTRACT Over the last thirty years the use of child safety seats in motor vehicles has increased dramatically fueled by well publicized information campaigns and legal mandates. In spite of this movement there is relatively little empirical evidence regarding the efficacy of child safety seats relative to the much cheaper alternative of traditional seat belts. Using data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System FARS on all fatal crashes in the United States from 1975-2003 I find that child safety seats in actual practice are no better than seat belts at reducing fatalities among children aged 2-6. This result is robust to a wide range of sensitivity analyses including controlling for .