Child Safety Information

Child safety information**

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for children and adolescents ages 1 to 21. Child car seats save lives and should be used until a child is big enough to wear a regular safety belt. No car seat guarantees safety, but one that is installed and used properly increases a child's chances of surviving a crash. "An unrestrained child becomes a 30-mph missile in a crash," says Tim Hurd of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA estimates that 85 percent of the children who ride in a car seat are in one that's used incorrectly or the wrong type.

Which seat is the right one? An effective seat must be the right type for the child's age and weight. It should fit securely in your car and be easy to get the child into and out of. Any seat sold in the U.S. must also meet government crash-test standards.

 

Child car seat safety tips**

• Premature babies and other very small newborns may require a car bed if there’s concern that a car seat may not provide a secure fit or that it may exacerbate breathing problems. Preemies’ travel should be kept to a minimum during the first months of life.

• The safest place for a child in a car seat is in your vehicle's center-rear seat--never up front near an air bag. A child should ride in a rear-facing car seat until reaching the maximum weight/height limits or other limits stated by the seat's manufacturer. (Typical weight limits for rear-facing use of convertible seats is 30 pounds.) Never switch the child's seat to a front-facing orientation for a child less than 1 year old and not over 20 pounds. Recline the seat to achieve an optimum 45-degree angle.

• Harness straps in a rear-facing car seat should be at or slightly below the infant's shoulders. For front-facing toddlers, harness straps should be at or slightly above the toddler's shoulders. If a harness is properly snug, you should not be able to insert more than one of your fingers behind it.

• Children over 40 pounds should use a booster seat until they can sit in a vehicle's rear seat with their knees bent comfortably over the edge, with the vehicle shoulder belt crossing midchest and the lap belt snug across the top of their thighs. They should never ride unbelted. Some seats can be used with their internal harness up to 65 pounds.

• When possible, buy new. Try out the car seat in your car; return it to the seller if it’s difficult to install or use.

• Don’t accept a hand-me-down with an unknown history or one that is more than six years old. If you must have a used seat, avoid recalled models by checking the Web site of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), www.nhtsa.gov. Check for recalled infant car-seat/stroller combos at the Consumer Product Safety Commission Web site, www.cpsc.gov.

• Return the warranty card so you can be notified of a recall.

• NHTSA recently issued new advice: Parents can be confident that a child car seat will continue to do its job after a minor crash. The agency defines a minor crash as one that causes no visible car seat cracks or deformities; injures no one in the car; results in no damage to the door or doors nearest the car seat; and does not trigger the air bags.
  After a minor crash, keep your child strapped in the seat as you drive away from the scene. Before the next trip, contact a trained car-seat inspector--go to www.nhtsa.dot.gov or www.seatcheck.org--but keep in mind that inspections aren't infallible. For maximum safety, replace the seat (in California and Illinois, your auto insurer is required to replace the seat after a crash).
  

Child car seat safety statistics*

Research conducted by NHTSA about national occupant protection use from 1991 to 2001 confirms that there is a strong positive correlation between the restraint use of an adult driver and that of young children in the vehicle. Among fatally injured children from birth to 15 years of age, the research revealed the following:

• The probability of being unrestrained was nearly four times greater for infants and toddlers when the child was with an unrestrained driver, versus being with a restrained driver.

• When drivers were unrestrained, 68 percent of children up to 3 years of age were also unrestrained; conversely, when a driver was wearing a safety belt, 28 percent of children up to 3 years of age were unrestrained.

• Among fatally injured passengers ages 4 to 7, 84 percent were unrestrained when the driver was unrestrained; conversely, when the driver was wearing a safety belt, 36 percent of children ages 4 to 7 were unrestrained.

• Among fatally injured child passengers 8 to 15 years old, 91 percent were unrestrained when the driver was unrestrained. Conversely, when the driver was wearing a safety belt, 46 percent of children 8 to 15 were unrestrained.

On a positive note:

• In 2002, among passenger vehicle occupants over 4 years old, safety belts saved an estimated 14,164 lives. Child restraints saved the lives of 376 children.

• From 1975 to 2002, safety belts prevented an estimated 164,753 fatalities.

• Child safety seats are 71 percent effective in reducing fatalities among infants (younger than 1 year old) and 54 percent effective for toddlers (1 to 4 years old) in passenger cars.7 For infants and toddlers in light trucks, the effectiveness in reducing fatalities is 58 percent and 59 percent, respectively.

• Booster seat use substantially reduces the risk of injury for children 4 to 8 years old; however, most children in this age group are currently restrained by safety belts designed for adults. A recent study by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found that the use of belt-positioning booster seats lowers the risk of injury to children in crashes by 59 percent, compared with the use of vehicle safety belts.

*Source: NHTSA

**Source: Consumer Reports

Additional resources for Parents and Kids:

• NHTSA kid's page
• American Academy of Pediatrics Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2007
• Child Passenger Safety Contact Locator
- a listing of currently certified child passenger safety technicians trained to help install child safety seats

If you don’t see safety information on this page that you think should be here please email us: info@safedrives.com.

Thank you,

And be safe,

Safe Drives Staff

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