Protecting Kids in the Car
Not using seat
belts is a conscious, albeit life-threatening, decision by thousands
of adult drivers and passengers. Unfortunately, children often are
the unwitting victims of this behavior.
Tips for proper
child restraint in a vehicle:
- Children
should ride in a child safety seat until 8 years of age.
- Children 12
and under should sit buckled up in the rear seat of the
vehicle.
- You should
never hold a child in your lap. An unrestrained 10-pound infant
would instantly be ripped from an adult's arms in a 30-mph
collision.
- Don't place a
single belt over yourself and a child. The child could be crushed
by your body in an accident.
- A seat belt
must be adjusted to the size of a child. The lap belt should cross
the child's upper thighs and the diagonal belt should cross the
upper chest and a point between the neck and the center of the
shoulder.
- Children
should continue to use a belt-positioning booster until the
lap/shoulder belts fit properly and the child's legs are long
enough to bend at the edge of the seat.
Some Statistics
- More than
50,000 infants and children are injured or killed in automobile
accidents each year. (Source: NHTSA)
- Over 75
percent of highway crashes occur within 25 miles of home. (Source:
Texas Ag. Extension Service)
- Safety belt
use has failed to increase over the past four years despite the
proliferation of driving safety educational programs. (Source:
NHTSA)
- On average,
seven children age 14 and under are killed in traffic accidents
each day. (Source: NHTSA)
- When a driver
is unbuckled, children in the same car are properly restrained
less than 25 percent of the time. (Source: NHTSA)
- In 1997,
2,087 children under age 16 died in vehicle accidents in the
United States, and 320,000 were injured. (Source: NHTSA)
- Six out of 10
children who die in passenger vehicle crashes are unbelted.
(Source: NHTSA)
- Correct use
of a child car seat can reduce the risk of accident-related
injuries and deaths by more than 70 percent. (Source:
NHTSA)
