Injury Prevention
Buckle Them Up For a Safe Ride!
It is far too easy for a child to die in a car crash. Children's bodies have little protection against the tremendous forces caused when cars collide, even at low speed. The safest way to protect children against being hurt is to transport them in a child safety seat in the rear seat of the car. By making sure that your children are properly restrained each time you travel, you provide the best possible protection from death or serious injury in the event of a crash. Show your children how much you love them: buckle them up every trip.
Did You Know?...
Car seats offer the best protection for children in the event of a crash.
- 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico require children to be buckled up in child restraints in motor vehicles.
- At only 30 miles per hour, a 10-pound baby would require 300 pounds of restraining force to be kept safe in a crash.
- In Georgia, 56 children, age 14 and younger, died in crashes in 2007.
- Nationwide, 43 percent of the children under age five who were killed in car crashes in 2006 were not using any type of car seat.
- In 2007, an estimated 358 children’s lives were saved by using car seats and booster seats. If all children under the age of 5 were restrained, 71 more children would have been saved.
- An estimated 8709 lives were saved by car seats, booster seats, and seat belts between 1975 and 2007.
- Every car seat used saves this country $1900 in health care and other costs.
- Every booster seat used saves society $2200.
- Car seats work best when used correctly.
- Three out of four car seats are not properly installed. For proper instructions please visit www.nhtsa.gov/cps.
- It can take less than two minutes to install a car seat correctly. Those two minutes can reduce your child’s risk of death by at least 60 percent.
- Children who have outgrown their car seats should ride in booster seats until they are at least 8 years old, unless they are 4’9” or taller.
- Children under 13 are safest when properly buckled in the back seat of a motor vehicle.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does the law require that my child be properly restrained?
- Do children really need to be buckled up when driving around town or on short trips?
- Do air bags protect my child even better than a safety seat?
- What if I have young children and cannot afford child safety seats?
1. Does the law require that my child be properly restrained?
Yes. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and Canada have child occupant protection laws in effect. Georgia's law requires all children under the age of eight be secured in an approved child safety seat and anyone under age 18 must be appropriately restrained. Bear in mind that seat belts are designed to restrain adults, not children.
2. Do children really need to be buckled up when driving around town or on short trips?
Absolutely. The greatest number of crashes actually occur during short trips at low speeds. About 75 percent of all crashes occur within 25 miles of home. About 40 percent of all fatal crashes occur on roads where the posted speed limit is 45 miles per hour or less.
3. Do air bags protect my child even better than a safety seat?
No. Air bags are not right for young children -- used improperly they can be
seriously injured or killed. Manufacturers recommend never placing a rear-facing
child safety seat in front of an active air bag. Children are safest in the
back seat. Unrestrained and out-of-position children who are standing, kneeling
or sitting near the edge of the front passenger seat in vehicles equipped with
an active passenger air bag will be injured by an inflating air bag. Even for
adults, air bags are designed to be used in conjunction with a seat belt.
4. What if I have young children and cannot afford child safety seats?
Georgia has child safety seat programs through local health departments and emergency medical service agencies to serve financially eligible parents in 142 of Georgia's 159 counties. Click here
to see if a program is available in your county and to find contact information
for your local program.
Proper Use of Child Safety Seats
- Never put a rear-facing infant or convertible seat in the front seat of
a vehicle with an active passenger air bag.
- Read your child safety seat instruction manual and your vehicle owner's manual for directions on proper installation.
- Do not secure a child safety seat with an automatic safety belt without reviewing the instructions in the vehicle owner's manual. Some vehicles require additional attachments, such as a locking clip, to ensure that child safety seats fit properly. Locking clips are often included on the back or bottom of the child safety seat.
- Only buy a child safety seat with a certification label that shows that it is approved for use in motor vehicles.
- Do not use a child safety seat when you do not know the history of the seat. Child safety seats are load bearing devices and intended for use in only one crash. If the seat was previously involved in a crash and you do not know of its involvement in a crash, the seat could be unsafe for your child. Microscopic tears or cracks may have occurred that you are unable to see.
- Call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Auto Safety Hotline (1-800-424-9393) to see if any recalls or safety notices have been issued for your child safety seat.
- The type of child safety seat to use depends on your child’s size and weight, and in some cases, the type of car in which you are using the seat. Click here for a Size & Weight Guide for Child Safety Seats to make sure your child’s current child safety seat is appropriate.
Sources
American Academy of Pediatrics, Car Safety Seat Checkup: Elk Grove Village (IL): AAP; 2008. [cited 15 March 2010]. Available from URL: http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/carseatsafety.cfm.
Child’s Safety Network, Child Safety Seats: How Large are the Benefits and Who Should Pay?: Calverton (MD): CSN; 2005. [cited 15 March 2010]. Available from URL: http://www.childrenssafetynetwork.org/topics/showtopic.asp?pkTopicID=24
Department of Transportation (US), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Traffic Safety Facts 2006: Children. Washington (DC): NHTSA; 2008. [cited 15 March 2010]. Available from URL: http://www.nhtsa.gov/cps.
Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Child Passenger Safety Fact Sheet: Atlanta (GA): CDC; 2010. [cited 15 March 2010]. Available from URL: http://www.cdc.gov/print.do?url=http%3A//www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/childpas.htm.
State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA), Injury and Violence Prevention are Essential to US Health Reform: Atlanta (GA): STIPDA; 2009. [cited 15 March 2010]. Available from URL: http://www.stipda.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=216.
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