Analysis of Data from the Iowa Child Passenger Safety Survey

The Iowa Child Passenger Safety Survey is conducted annually to assess compliance with Iowa’s Child Restraint Law for children travelling in motor vehicles.  The survey involves 36 communities distributed across the state. Surveyors complete records by approaching the drivers of vehicles with child passenger in the parking lots of convenience stores, and asking the drivers for their participation.  The restraint status of each child passenger is recorded along with other pertinent information. The results of the survey are summarized annually in a report presented to the Iowa state legislature.  In this project, we formally analyze the 2009 and 2010 survey data using descriptive and inferential techniques and logistic regression. Our goal is to investigate, characterize, and interpret the relationships between potential explanatory   factors of interest and the binary outcome of proper restraint usage. These factors include the age of the child, the restraint status of the driver (belted or not belted), the population size of the community (reflecting its degree of rurality), and the size of the vehicle cab.