B
Timeline
1913 |
National Safety Council is chartered. |
1924 |
First car with safety glass windows as standard equipment is offered by Cadillac. |
1927 |
Interstate mailing of firearms through the U.S. Postal Service is banned. |
1932 |
Maryland is the first state to introduce mandatory car inspections. |
1934 |
National Firearms Act regulates the sale of fully automatic weapons, silencers, sawed-off shotguns, and other ''gangster-type weapons." |
1937 |
Godfrey publishes one of the first statements on the need for public health involvement in accident prevention in the American Journal of Public Health. |
1938 |
Legislation is passed mandating the licensing of dealers and manufacturers involved in interstate firearm transactions; firearm sales to people convicted of certain crimes are prohibited. |
1942 |
DeHaven describes structural environments as a primary cause of injury in falls from heights. |
1943 |
American Public Health Association (APHA) Committee on Administrative Practice appoints a subcommittee on accident prevention; the subcommittee reports accident prevention programs in six state and two local health departments. |
1945 |
Federal Children's Bureau, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), National Safety Council, and Metropolitan Life Insurance cosponsor national child safety campaign. |
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APHA Subcommittee on Accident Prevention develops program guidelines for accident prevention; the subcommittee reports accident prevention programs in 9 state and 25 local health departments. |
1948 |
W.K. Kellogg Foundation awards first home accident prevention demonstration grant. |
1949 |
Gordon formalizes concept that epidemiology could be used as a theoretical foundation for accident prevention. |
1950 |
AAP forms Committee on Accident Prevention. |
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First International Committee on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety Conference is held in Stockholm. |
1951 |
W.K. Kellogg Foundation awards 3- to 6-year home accident prevention demonstration projects to 10 states |
1953 |
First conference on home accident prevention is held at University of Michigan, School of Public Health; sponsors include National Safety Council, APHA, U.S. Public Health Service (U.S. PHS), and W.K. Kellogg Foundation. |
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Human Factors in Air Transportation is published by McFarland. |
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Flammable Fabrics Act and Federal Hazardous Substances Act are passed. |
1955 |
McFarland publishes on epidemiological principles applicable to the study and prevention of childhood accidents, in the American Journal of Public Health. |
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First annual Stapp conferences on the biomechanics of crashes is held. |
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APHA surveys 1,556 state, local, and provincial health departments to assess the scope and effectiveness of health department programs in accident prevention; 33 state, 3 provincial, and 296 local health departments report having an accident prevention program; 62 report a full-time position in place for public health safety. |
1956 |
Accident Prevention Program is initiated by the U.S. PHS. |
1957 |
The American Association for Automotive Medicine (later, the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine) is established. |
1959 |
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is founded. |
1960 |
APHA public policy statement recommends that accident prevention be recognized as a major public health problem and that all units of APHA cooperate to improve accident prevention efforts at the local, state, and national levels. |
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U.S. PHS Division of Special Health Services establishes the Division of Accident Prevention. |
1961 |
Gibson publishes theory of injury produced by energy exchange. |
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APHA publishes Accident Prevention: The Role of Physicians and Public Health Workers. |
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The Journal of Trauma begins publication. |
1964 |
Haddon, Suchman, and Klein publish Accident Research: Methods and Approaches. |
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Eleven schools of public health develop training programs in injury prevention, funded by the U.S. PHS. |
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The four major U.S. auto manufacturers install two front-seat lap belts as standard equipment. |
1965 |
A Guide to the Development of Accidental Injury Control Programs is published by U.S. PHS. |
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Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader is published. |
1966 |
Haddon matrix is published. |
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Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society is published by the National Research Council (NRC). |
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National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act establishes the National Highway Safety Bureau (later, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA]). |
1968 |
APHA publishes Accidents and Homicide by Iskrant and Joliet. |
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Federal Gun Control Act places additional restrictions on who can own firearms. |
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American Trauma Society is established. |
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Lap belts in all seated occupant positions are installed as standard equipment by the four major U.S. auto manufacturers. |
1969 |
Accident Analysis and Prevention journal begins publication. |
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Journal of Safety Research begins publication. |
1970 |
Poison Prevention Packaging Act mandates use of safety caps on a variety of products. |
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Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Admini |
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stration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. |
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Highway Safety Act of 1970 establishes NHTSA. |
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Final Report on the National Commission on Product Safety is released. |
1972 |
Consumer Product Safety Act establishes the Consumer Product Safety Commission. |
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Highway Loss Data Institute is founded. |
1973 |
Roles and Resources of Federal Agencies in Support of Comprehensive Emergency Medical Services is published by the NRC. |
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National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect is established with the passage of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (P.L. 93-247). |
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Emergency Medical Services Systems Act of 1973 is passed. |
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National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research is founded at the Department of Education. |
1974 |
General Motors produces first airbags. |
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Congress enacts the 55 mile per hour national maximum speed limit. |
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National Association of Governors' Highway Safety Representatives is established. |
1975 |
Fatality Analysis Reporting System is established by NHTSA. |
1977 |
Mine Safety and Health Administration is established to administer the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. |
1978 |
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence is founded. |
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Emergency Medical Services at Midpassage is published by the NRC. |
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Tennessee is the first jurisdiction in the world to pass a child passenger safety law. |
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Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID) is founded. |
1979 |
Division of Maternal and Child Health funds injury prevention projects in Massachusetts, Virginia, and California for 3 years, including the first statewide comprehensive injury prevention program effort based in a state health agency. |
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Surgeon General issues the first national agenda for health promotion and disease prevention, Healthy People: The Surgeon General's Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, which identifies the reduction of injuries as a major preventive health goal. |
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The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) establishes a violence epidemiology branch to track the incidence of interpersonal violence. |
1980 |
Handbook on Accident Prevention is published by AAP. |
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First population-based and emergency-room-based injury surveillance system is implemented in the United States (Massachusetts and Ohio). |
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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is founded. |
1981 |
National Environmental Health Association conducts survey to evaluate injury prevention efforts (particularly within state health departments) nationwide; only 12 state health departments are found to have programs. |
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National Child Passenger Safety Association is established. |
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First National Conference on Injury Control, sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University and the CDC, is held in Baltimore. |
1983 |
Developing Childhood Injury Prevention Programs: An Administrative Guide for Maternal and Child Health (Title V) Programs is published by the Division of Maternal and Child Health. |
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CDC hosts an invitational injury program management course for state health agency officials. |
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Center to Prevent Handgun Violence is founded. |
1984 |
First U.S. seat-belt use law is enacted in New York. |
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Health Services, Preventive Health Services, and Home and Community Based Services Act (P.L. 98-555) establishes the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMS-C) program. |
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Contra Costa County, California, issues isolation fencing ordinance for new pools. |
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Association of Schools of Public Health Conference on the Prevention of Injuries is held in Atlanta. |
1985 |
Every state has passed legislation requiring the use of child safety seats. |
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Injury in America: A Continuing Public Health Problem is published by the NRC and the Institute of Medicine (IOM). |
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New England Network to Prevent Childhood Injuries establishes the first regional injury control network. Surgeon General's Workshop on Violence and Public Health is held in Leesburg, Virginia. |
1986 |
Injury Prevention Act places an injury control program at CDC; Division of Injury Epidemiology and Control is established in the CDC Center for Environmental Health. |
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Minimum drinking age of 21 legislation is enacted by Congress. |
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National Council on Disability report Toward Independence is released. |
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First Maternal and Child Health demonstration is funded to address violence. |
1987 |
National SAFE KIDS Campaign is launched. |
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Conference on Injury in America: A New Approach to an Old Problem, is held in Atlanta sponsored by CDC and NHTSA. |
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California enacts first legislation requiring bike helmets for children 4 years and under as passengers on bicycles. |
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CDC violence prevention program moves from Center for Health Promotion to Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control. |
1988 |
Injury Control: A Review of the Status and Progress of the Injury Control Program at the Centers for Disease Control is published by NRC and IOM. |
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Second National Injury Control Conference, sponsored by CDC and NHTSA, is held in San Antonio, Texas. |
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Harvard Childhood Injury Prevention Resource Center survey report Injury Prevention Programs in State Health Departments is published. Surgeon General's Workshop on Drunk Driving is held in Washington, D.C. |
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Advocates for Highway Safety is established. |
1989 |
Cost of Injury: A Report to Congress is released. |
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Arizona, Rhode Island, and Washington are the first states to mandate E-coding for hospital discharges. |
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Injury Prevention: Meeting the Challenge is published as a supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. |
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First World Conference on Accident and Injury Prevention is held in Stockholm, Sweden. |
1990 |
CDC releases report to Congress, Childhood Injuries in the United States. |
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CDC sponsors Forum on Youth Violence in Minority Communities—Setting the Agenda for Prevention—in Atlanta. |
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Carnegie Corporation of New York sponsors conference on the state of the art of evaluation in violence prevention programs for adolescents. |
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Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act of 1990 is passed. |
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Children's Safety Network is established by Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). |
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The Injury Control Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-558) is passed. |
1991 |
First International Conference on Safe Communities, Safecomm-91, is held in Falkoping, Sweden, sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO). |
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Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act is enacted, continuing state drunk-driving incentive grant programs. |
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Third National Injury Control Conference is held in Denver, Colorado, sponsored by CDC. |
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WHO Helmet Initiative begins. |
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NIMH and MCH sponsor conference on The Impact of Community Violence on African American Children and Families: Collaborative Approaches to Prevention and Intervention. |
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Disability in America: Toward a National Agenda for Prevention is published by IOM. |
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Child Health Day 1991—Looking Out: Understanding and Preventing Childhood Injuries is held. |
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A Data Book of Child and Adolescent Injury is released by Children's Safety Network. |
1992 |
Americans with Disabilities Act is passed. |
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Surgeon General's Workshop—Keeping Kids Safe: Strategies for Preventing Violence and Injury, sponsored by MCHB, is held in Columbia, Maryland. |
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CDC Division of Injury Control (DIC) becomes the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. |
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Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General releases its report, Injury Control. |
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Handgun Epidemic Lowering Plan Network is established. |
1993 |
Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect is published by NRC. |
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Injury Control in the 1990s: A National Plan for Action is published by CDC. |
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Second World Conference on Injury Control is held in Atlanta. |
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Understanding and Preventing Violence is published by NRC. |
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Emergency Medical Services for Children is published by IOM. |
1994 |
First Symposium of the International Collaborative Effort on Injury Statistics is held in Bethesda, Maryland. |
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Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act establishes a 5-day waiting period and background check for handgun purchases. |
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General Accounting Office report Public Health Services: Agencies Use Different Approaches to Protect Public Against Disease and Injury is published. |
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Third International Conference on Safe Communities is held in Harstad, Norway. |
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The Partnership Against Violence Network is created in response to a report to the President and the Domestic Policy Council by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Violence. |
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A Report of the Task Force on Trauma Research is published by NIH. |
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Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act bans manufacture and sale of semiautomatic rifles and handguns with specific characteristics. |
1995 |
Injury Prevention begins publication. |
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National Violence Prevention Conference—Bridging Science and Program is held in Des Moines, Iowa. |
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Fourth International Conference on Safe Communities is held in McMurray, Alberta, Canada. |
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All states but one have mandatory seat-belt use laws. |
1996 |
International Conference on Bicycle Helmet Initiatives is held in Melbourne, Australia |
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Third International Conference on Injury Prevention and Control is held in Melbourne, Australia. |
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NRC publishes Understanding Violence Against Women. |
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National Occupational Research Agenda is published by NIOSH. |
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Final Report of the Poison Control Center Advisory Work Group is released. |
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Domestic Violence Offenders Gun Ban is passed, which prohibits gun purchase by individuals convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor. |
1997 |
Fourth National Injury Control Conference—Safe America is held in Washington, D.C. |
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Injury Chartbook. Health, United States, 1996–1997 is published by the National Center for Health Statistics. |
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Enabling America: Assessing the Role of Rehabilitation Science and Engineering is published by IOM. |
1998 |
Fourth World Conference on Injury Prevention and Control is held in Amsterdam. |
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Safe Kids at Home, at Play, and on the Way is published by the National SAFE KIDS Campaign. |
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Dual airbags are standard equipment for all passenger cars. |
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Violence in Families: Assessing Prevention and Treatment Programs is published by NRC. |
SOURCES
Baker SP. 1989. Injury science comes of age. Journal of the American Medical Association 262(16):2284–2285.
Waller JA. 1994. Reflections on a half century of injury control. American Journal of Public Health 84(4):664–670.
Contributors: Ann St. Claire, Leslie Fisher, Susan Ferguson, Susan Gallagher, Anara Guard, James Hedlund, Barry Pless, and Allan Williams.