Translational research in child and adolescent transportation safety

Abstract

Motor vehicle crash (MVC)-related injury is the leading cause of death among youths age 1 to 19 years. Advances in MVC and injury prevention depend on interrelated combinations of technology, policy, and education, and research on these topics can inform policy and lead to improvement in safety. This article presents two examples of translational research in transportation injury prevention. In the first example of child passenger protection, the authors describe a program of research designed to reduce the gap between the theoretical and practical effectiveness of safety methods. In the second example of novice teen drivers, the authors examine translational research related to two complementary approaches to reducing the exposure of novice teen drivers to high-risk driving conditions-graduated driver licensing policy and parental management of novice teen drivers. The examples suggest the utility of systematic programs of research designed to improve the translation into practice of MVC and injury prevention technology and policy.