Child restraint laws: an analysis of gaps in coverage.

The limiting effects of exemptions to the coverage of child restraint laws were estimated by determining the extent to which the laws would have applied to child motor vehicle occupants, ages 0-5 years, killed before the laws were passed (1976-80). The 50 state laws would have exempted about 39 per cent of child motor vehicle occupants less than 6 years of age killed in the years immediately preceding enactment of the laws. Of those children killed in pre-law years who were within the age limits set by the subsequent state laws, about 21 per cent would not have been covered. The gaps in the laws are unnecessary, and proper amendments based on these data can save lives.