Search

BackgroundUse of seat belts and car seats for children are among the most effective interventions to reduce injury severity when a crash occurs. The use should be enforced in order to have an increase in wearing these restraints. Romania has the lowest rate of using seatbelts in the backseat, 16%. The purpose of the study is to describe the use of child safety restraints and compare it with existing standards of good practice.MethodsAn observational study on child safety restraint was conducted in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, between 2013 and 2014. Observational sites included 38 schools and kindergartens and three commercial areas, where drivers (n=768) and child passengers (n=892) were observed. Observations were conducted as vehicles parked or pulled to a stop and were followed by driver surveys on knowledge and attitudes towards restraint legislation and child safety behaviour as car occupants.ResultsThe proportion of observed child motor vehicle occupants wearing some type of restraint was 67.4% (n=601). The majority of children (82.6%) were in the back seat, and 14.2% of infants were in a rear-facing child seat. The proportion of restrained children declined with age, with children 5 years old or younger being almost five times more likely to be properly restrained (OR 4.87, 95% CI 2.93 to 8.07) when compared with older children.ConclusionsAlthough minimum legal requirements of child motor vehicle occupant safety were in place in Romania at the time of the study, the rates of using children restraints was low compared with other middle-income and high-income countries.

Police crash reports are often the main source for official data in many countries. However, with the exception of fatal crashes, crashes are often underreported in a biased manner. Consequently, the countermeasures adopted according to them may be inefficient. In the case of bicycle crashes, this bias is most acute and it probably varies across countries, with some of them being more prone to reporting accidents to police than others. Assessing if this bias occurs and the size of it can be of great importance for evaluating the risks associated with bicycling.This study utilized data collected in the COST TU1101 action "Towards safer bicycling through optimization of bicycle helmets and usage". The data came from an online survey that included questions related to bicyclists´ attitudes, behaviour, cycling habits, accidents, and patterns of use of helmets. The survey was filled by 8655 bicyclists from 30 different countries. After applying various exclusion factors, 7015 questionnaires filled by adult cyclists from 17 countries, each with at least 100 valid responses, remained in our sample.The results showed that across all countries, an average of only 10% of all crashes were reported to the police, with a wide range among countries: from a minimum of 0.0% (Israel) and 2.6% (Croatia) to a maximum of a 35.0% (Germany). Some factors associated with the reporting levels were type of crash, type of vehicle involved, and injury severity. No relation was found between the likelihood of reporting and the cyclist´s gender, age, educational level, marital status, being a parent, use of helmet, and type of bicycle.The significant under-reporting - including injury crashes that do not lead to hospitalization - justifies the use of self-report survey data for assessment of bicycling crash patterns as they relate to (1) crash risk issues such as location, infrastructure, cyclists´ characteristics, and use of helmet and (2) strategic approaches to bicycle crash prevention and injury reduction. Fil: Shinar, D.. Ben Gurion University of the Negev; Israel Fil: Valero-Mora, P.. Universidad de Valencia; España Fil: van Strijp-Houtenbos, M.. Institute For Road Safety Research, Netherlands; Países Bajos Fil: Haworth, N.. Queensland University Of Technology Qut; Australia Fil: Schramm, A.. Queensland University Of Technology Qut; Australia Fil: de Bruyne, G.. Universiteit Antwerp; Bélgica Fil: Cavallo, V.. Ifsttar - French Institute Of Science And Technology For Transport, Development And Networks; Fil: Chliaoutakis, J.. Technologiko Ekpaideutiko Idrima, Kritis; Fil: Dias, J.. Instituto Superior Tecnico; Portugal Fil: Ferraro, O.E.. Universita Degli Studi Di Pavia; Fil: Fyhri, A.. Transportokonomisk Institutt; Fil: Sajatovic, A. Hursa. University Of Zagreb, Faculty Of Textile Technology; Fil: Kuklane, K.. Lund University; Suecia Fil: Ledesma, Ruben Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Mascarell, O.. Ben Gurion University of the Negev; Israel Fil: Morandi, A.. Universita Degli Studi Di Pavia; Fil: Muser, M.. Working Group On Accident Mechanics; Fil: Otte, D.. Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (mhh); Fil: Papadakaki, M.. Technologiko Ekpaideutiko Idrima, Kritis; Fil: Sanmartín, J.. Universidad de Valencia; España Fil: Dulf, D.. Universitatea Babes-bolyai Din Cluj-napoca; Fil: Saplioglu, M.. Suleyman Demirel Universitesi; Fil: Tzamalouka, G.. Technologiko Ekpaideutiko Idrima, Kritis

Background: Facilitating and enhancing interaction between stakeholders involved in the policymaking process to stimulate collaboration and use of evidence, is important to foster the development of effective Health Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) policies. Performing an analysis of real-world policymaking processes will help reveal the complexity of a network of stakeholders. Therefore, the main objectives were to unravel the stakeholder network in the policy process by conducting three systems analyses, and to increase insight into the similarities and differences in the policy processes of these European country cases.Methods: A systems analysis of the local HEPA policymaking process was performed in three European countries involved in the 'REsearch into POlicy to enhance Physical Activity' (REPOPA) project, resulting in three schematic models showing the main stakeholders and their relationships. The models were used to compare the systems, focusing on implications with respect to collaboration and use of evidence in local HEPA policymaking. Policy documents and relevant webpages were examined and main stakeholders were interviewed.Results: The systems analysis in each country identified the main stakeholders involved and their position and relations in the policymaking process. The Netherlands and Denmark were the most similar and both differed most from Romania, especially at the level of accountability of the local public authorities for local HEPA policymaking. The categories of driving forces underlying the relations between stakeholders were formal relations, informal interaction and knowledge exchange.Conclusions: A systems analysis providing detailed descriptions of positions and relations in the stakeholder network in local level HEPA policymaking is rather unique in this area. The analyses are useful when a need arises for increased interaction, collaboration and use of knowledge between stakeholders in the local HEPA network, as they provide an overview of the stakeholders involved and their mutual relations. This information can be an important starting point to enhance the uptake of evidence and build more effective public health policies.