Which Seat Is Right For My Child?
All children under 4'9'' must be properly restrained by an approved
child seat when travelling in a vehicle. An adult safety belt
is not enough. more
(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
Fact:
The front seat is a dangerous place for children. Front air
bags can deploy even in minor crashes and can seriously hurt
or kill children. Buckle children 12 and younger in the back
seat. |
Children, especially those under the age of 5, are vulnerable
in collisions because of the size and shape of their bodies. Child
safety seats are designed to protect children by spreading the forces
of a crash over more of the body for front-facing toddlers, and cradle
the fragile neck and back of the rear-facing infant.
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| Buckey © 2003
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Child safety seats are the most effective occupant protection devices
used in motor vehicles today. If used correctly, they are 71 percent
effective in reducing fatalities in children under the age of 5 and
69 percent effective in reducing the need for hospitalization. Unfortunately,
parents and other care givers too often consider child seats inconvenient,
out of their financial reach, or too difficult to install. Others
are misinformed about correct child safety seat use. About 50 percent
of children under age 5 who died in crashes were unrestrained. Of
the remaining 50 percent, 26 percent were in an adult seat belt which
does not provide effective protection for most children under age
5. Others were in a child restraint system, but had not been restrained
properly. In studies conducted by NHTSA to observe child safety seat
misuse, nearly 80 percent of the child seats observed were misused
in one or more ways. In some cases, the seat was not properly attached
to the vehicle; in others, the child was not appropriately buckled
into the seat. (NTHSA.dot.gov)
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| Buckey © 2003
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4 Steps for
Kids Child Passenger Safety
1. Rear-facing infant seats in the back
seat from birth to at least one year old and at least 20 pounds.
2.
Forward-facing toddler seats in the back seat from age one to about
age four and 20 to 40 pounds.
3. Booster
seats in the back seat from about age four and 40 pounds to at least
age eight, unless 4'9".
4. Safety belts
at age eight or older or taller than 4'9". All children 12 and
under should ride in the back seat.
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