The effectiveness of child restraint and seat belt legislation in reducing child injuries: The case of Serbia.

The case of Serbia suggests that the new law was effective in reducing injuries among children aged 0-3 in the short term and injuries among children aged 4-12 in both the short term and long term. To understand these results, we suggest 2 hypotheses. First, low proper usage of child restraint and weak police enforcement were likely to explain the short-term effect among children aged 0-3. Second, access to seat belts in rear seats was probably a condition that facilitated the use of these devices among children aged 4-12, protecting them during the period of the study.