Introduction Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of years of life lost in Iran with the highest rate of road traffic crashes fatalities is the Middle East. Child safety seats (CSS) are not still necessitated by law in Iran. The purpose of this research was to determine the parental willingness to pay (WTP) for child restraints in Mashhad, the second most populated city in Iran with one of the highest rates of road traffic-related death in the country.

Methods We surveyed 590 parents of kindergarten children who owned an automobile and were willing to participate in the study in the year 2009. They were asked about the maximum amount of money they were willing to pay for CSS. Contingent valuation method (CVM) was used for assessing WTP among parents.

Results The mean age of children was 33.5 months and 51% of them were female. The median parental WTP for CSS was estimated to be $15. Higher household economical status and higher parents educational grade were significantly associated with the amount of money they were willing to pay for CSS.

Discussion Our study showed that the median parental WTP was much lower than the actual price of this equipment and those who were of lower socio-economic class were less willing to pay. Community-based interventions to give advice on and lend/or CSS to these families can be recommended.