PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

Dr Shanthi Ameratunga has been appointed to the position of director of the Injury Prevention Research Centre, University of Auckland, with effect from from 1 December 2005.

After 15 years at the helm Professor John Langley has decided it is time to stand aside as director of the Injury Prevention and Research Unit at the University of Otago in New Zealand. John intends to continue to undertake injury research but from July 2007 this is likely to be on a part time basis. Information about the Director’s position is available at www.otago.ac.nz/vacancies/.

CHANGES TO US VEHICLE SAFETY

As a result of a transportation bill signed into law by President Bush in August, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will collect data on non-traffic and non-crash tragedies. This means a child who is run over in a driveway, suffocates in a trunk, or gets trapped in a power window becomes an official statistic, which could help fix dangerous equipment or manufacturing methods. Furthermore, NHTSA will look for ways to reduce back over accidents, which kill or injure hundreds of children every year, not to mention all the bumpers that get bent in non-lethal run-ins. And finally, by 2007 all vehicles must have power window switches that can only be pulled up or out, reducing the risk that a child, leaning out of the window, will accidentally activate a push down or toggle switch and crush his or her head, neck, or extremities.

DVD ON CHILD CAR SAFETY

Ireland’s National Safety Council, with support by Opel Ireland, has produced a DVD, Child safety in cars. The DVD is designed to help parents choose the correct child restraint for children between the ages of 0 and 14 years and, with the help of experts, how to fit it safely into the car. 50 000 DVDs are being produced to …