Child Endangerment and Traffic Safety

描述(申请人提供)：虽然酒后驾驶是一种暴力犯罪，导致许多人死亡或永久残疾，但车辆内有儿童的驾驶受损通常不被视为危害或虐待儿童。危害儿童法旨在保护儿童免受那些在身体上或精神上虐待他们的人的伤害，以及那些通过伤害儿童而使他们受害的人。驾驶受损和/或鲁莽地在车内带着孩子属于这一定义，这是一个严重的问题。这项拟议的研究旨在超越观察一般患病率的范围，开始检查因酒精损伤而危及儿童的司机的特征，但也将我们的检查扩展到鲁莽/侵略性驾驶。最重要的是，这项研究将开始审查儿童危害政策。目前，有几个州的法律至少在名义上解决了受损司机对儿童的危害，但几乎没有采取任何措施来检查其有效性。具体地说，这项研究的目的是：目标1：确定酒精阳性司机在运送年轻乘客时发生撞车事故的情况和特征。目标2：确定司机表现出一系列通常被定义为鲁莽和/或攻击性行为的年轻乘客死亡或受伤的案例，并检查此类事件的发生率和司机的特征。目标3：探索当前与跨州酒后驾车有关的儿童危害法律的可能有效性。 公共卫生相关性：受损司机对儿童的危害是一个被忽视的问题，每年有超过4.7万名儿童受伤。除了与酒精有关的机动车伤害和死亡外，还有与鲁莽和/或侵略性驾驶有关的伤害和死亡。目前尚不清楚有多少儿童受到这些事件的影响。政策制定者对这个问题的反应一直是试探性的，因为我们对制造这个问题的人的了解有限。由于没有重点的对策和预防努力，我们评估这些对策的能力有限。在这项拟议的研究中，我们将开始解决这些限制，为设计更好(更有效)的对策铺平道路。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although drunk driving is a violent crime that leaves many dead or permanently disabled, driving impaired with a child in the vehicle is not typically acknowledged as child endangerment or abuse. Child-endangerment laws are intended to protect children from those who would physically or emotionally abuse them, as well as those who victimize children by putting them in the way of harm. Driving impaired and/or recklessly with a child in the car falls under this definition, and it is a serious problem. The proposed study aims to go beyond observing general prevalence rates and begin to examine the characteristics of drivers who endanger children due to alcohol impairment, but also extend our examination to reckless/aggressive driving. Most significantly, this study will begin to examine child endangerment policies. Currently, several states have laws that at least notionally address child endangerment by impaired drivers, but little has been done to examine their effectiveness. Specifically the aims of this study are to: Aim 1: Identify situations and characteristics of alcohol-positive drivers who are involved in crashes while transporting young passengers. Aim 2: Identify cases where young passengers are killed or injured by drivers displaying a set of behaviors typically defined as reckless and/or aggressive and examine the prevalence of such occurrences and the characteristics of the drivers. Aim 3: Explore the possible effectiveness of current child-endangerment laws relating to DUI across states. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Child endangerment by impaired drivers is a neglected problem that injures more than 47,000 children a year. Beyond alcohol-related motor-vehicle injuries and fatalities are those related to reckless and/or aggressive driving. How many children are affected by these events is currently unknown. Policymakers' reaction to this problem has been tentative because of our limited understanding of those creating the problem. With unfocused countermeasures and prevention efforts, we have been limited in our ability to evaluate these responses. In this proposed study, we will begin to address these limitations, paving the road for the design of better (more efficient) countermeasures.