Keeping baby safe: A randomized trial of a parent training program for infant and toddler motor vehicle injury prevention

•A randomized controlled trial evaluation of a DVD program designed to teach car seat safety to parents.•Measures include both written knowledge and observed car seat simulation.•ANCOVA shows all intervention posttest scores were significant.•Results were significant across outcome measures, regardless of child age.

Motor vehicle crashes are responsible for much death and disability among infants and toddlers. This study evaluated Keeping Baby Safe In and Around the Car, a multimedia DVD designed to improve knowledge about car seat installation among parents of infants and toddlers. The randomized controlled trial was conducted with 195 parents of children aged 0–24 months. Effective car seat use was evaluated via a written knowledge quiz and car seat simulation. Results from analyses of covariance models show that posttest scores for the intervention condition were significantly higher than those of the control condition on both knowledge and car seat simulation measures. The results, consistent across outcome measures and regardless of child age, suggest that viewing the Keeping Baby Safe In and Around the Car DVD resulted in significant gains in parents’ car seat knowledge and their ability to discriminate the critical elements of correct car seat installation. Dissemination of engaging multimedia DVDs such as this program might reduce motor vehicle crash-related injuries to infants and toddlers.