Promoting law enforcement for child protection: a community analysis

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Traffic Safety Research
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Child safety seat non-use is a significant public health concern.
• Police citation practices for safety seat violations were historically low.
• Effective interventions are needed to improve child occupant protection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the Colorado Occupant Protection Project (COPP) intervention on police citation rates for child safety seat non-use.
• To assess the effectiveness of a behavioral program combining police training and driver incentives.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 4.5-year archival data analysis employing an ABA (reversal) design.
• Compared citation rates between an intervention community and a control community.
• Intervention included police instruction and coupons for drivers cited for non-use.

Main Results:

• Citations for child safety seat non-use increased dramatically (over 50/month) during the intervention at the test site, compared to near-zero rates at the baseline and control site.
• Citation rates decreased after the intervention was removed, but remained higher than baseline.
• Officers were 44 times more likely to issue citations during the intervention period.

Conclusions:

• A targeted behavioral intervention can significantly increase police enforcement of child safety seat laws.
• The COPP intervention demonstrated a successful strategy for improving child occupant protection through enhanced police activity.
• Incentive-based programs can be effective in modifying enforcement behaviors for public safety goals.