Child Passenger Safety
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Motor vehicle crashes account for 1 out of every 3 injury-related deaths of children 12 and younger. Seventy-one percent of the deaths and 66% of the injuries children suffer in traffic collisions could be prevented if children were properly restrained.
While motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death of individuals 1-34 years of age, child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% for those under 1 year and 54% for those 1-4 years. Unfortunately the majority of these child safety seats are used incorrectly. This highlights the importance of getting your car seat checked.
Protecting children by using age and size-appropriate restraints is the best way to avoid crash-related injuries. You cannot control bad driving conditions or the poor judgment and excessive speed of other drivers, but you can choose to transport your children as safely as possible.
It is safest to leave young children rear facing for as long as possible. Parents should leave their child rear facing until they exceed the maximum height or weight recommendations for their rear facing car seat.
Click here for more on Booster Seats.
Click here for more on Car Seat Legislation.
Click here for more on Proper Use of Car Seats.
Additional Resources
- National Safety Council
- www.nsc.org
- Safe Kids USA
- www.usa.safekids.org
- U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
- www.cpsc.gov
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- www.aap.org
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
- www.nhtsa.dot.gov
- SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A.
- www.carseat.org
- Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
- www.iihs.org/laws/state_laws/restrain2.html
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