Parents' attitudes, knowledge and behaviours relating to safe child occupant travel

This study investigated parents' attitudes, knowledge and behaviours relating to safe child occupant travel following new Australian legislation regarding child restraint system (CRS) and motor vehicle restraint use for children aged 7 years and under. A questionnaire exploring attitudes, knowledge and behaviours regarding general road safety, as well as safe child occupant travel, was completed by 272 participants with at least one child aged between 3 and 10 years residing in the Australian state of Victoria. Responses to the questionnaire revealed that participants' attitudes, knowledge and behaviours towards road safety in general were fairly positive, with most participants reporting that they restrict their alcohol consumption or do not drink at all while driving (87%), drive at or below the speed limit (85%) and 'always' wear their seatbelts (98%). However, more than half of the participants reported engaging in distracting behaviours 'sometimes' or 'often' (54%) and a small proportion of participants indicated that they 'sometimes' engaged in aggressive driving (14%). Regarding their attitudes, knowledge and behaviours relating to safe child occupant travel, most participants reported that they 'always' restrain their children (99%). However, there was a surprisingly high proportion of participants who did not know the appropriate age thresholds' to transition their child from a booster seat to an adult seatbelt (53%) or the age for which it is appropriate for their child to sit in the front passenger seat of the vehicle (20%). Logistic regression analyses revealed that parents' knowledge regarding safe child occupant travel was significantly related to their attitudes, knowledge and behaviours towards road safety in general, such as drinking habits while driving and CRS safety knowledge. Based on the findings of this study, a number of recommendations are made for strategies to enhance parents' attitudes, knowledge and behaviours relating to safe child occupant travel, as well as for future research.