Car Safety for Children
Making Sure Your Child is Safe & Secure

One of the greatest advances in American driving safety has been the widespread use of child safety seats. Every state requires that children under the age of 4 are restrained while riding in a car. Yet despite the laws and warnings, car accidents are still the single largest cause of death among children under the age of fifteen. It is estimated that half the fatalities could have been prevented with the proper use of a children’s car seat.

Here are some ways to make sure your child is safe and secure.

Start Out Right

The best way to get children in the habit of using their seatbelts, boosters or child seats, is to learn from their parent’s example. The driver, all adult passengers, all infants and children should be safely secured before starting the engine.

Infants Up to 20 Pounds

Infants from birth to 1-year old and under 20 pounds in weight should be secured in an infant car safety seat on the back seat of the vehicle, facing the rear.

Infants 20+ Pounds

Infants from birth to 1-year and more than 20 pounds should be secured in either a convertible safety seat or in an infant seat approved for their weight. The seats should be secured on the back seat of the vehicle, facing the rear.

Children 20 to 40 Pounds

Children older than 1-year who weigh 20 to 40 pounds should be secured in a child safety seat on the back seat of the vehicle, facing forward.

Children 40+ Pounds

Children who have outgrown their child safety seat but are still too small to use the standard adult safety belt in the car, should be secured in a booster seat. This repositions the child so the adult belt crosses the child’s lap and chest at the appropriate level.

But…

• Don’t allow children to ride in a vehicle unrestrained.
• Don’t permit children under the age of 12 or under 4’ 9" to ride in the front seat.
• Don’t position the infant seat, child safety seat, or booster seat on the front seat of the vehicle.
• Don’t use "add-on" devices (i.e. those not originally built into the vehicle) to reposition the shoulder belt on shorter passengers.
• Don’t forget that deployed airbags can add to a child’s injury if the child is either unrestrained or in a rear-facing infant seat in the front seat.

Information provided is from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.