Remember the days when we rode in cars unsecured, caution to the wind without using car seats? I remember riding in the back dashboard as my parents drove during the night, through rural roads in Mississippi to visit my grandparents. It’s amazing I lived to tell about it. While I enjoy the memories, it is pretty amazing we were fortunate to never be in an accident.
The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children 1 through 12 years old. Based on NHTSA crash data in 2010, on average, almost 2 children (age 12 and younger in a passenger vehicle) were killed and 325 children were injured each day. This fatality rate could be reduced by half if the correct child safety seats were always used.
Wow! Those are incredible statistics and why it’s so important for parents and child care providers to ensure they are correctly using the right car seat for a child’s age and size.
Are you using the correct seat for your child’s age and size?
To educate parents and caregivers about NHTSA’s car seat recommendations for children from birth through age 12, today NHTSA is launching a new Web site, safercar.gov/therightseat. You can find a ton of information including instructional installation videos, info on car seat use, recall notifications, and NHTSA’s car seat ease-of-use ratings.
For more information on child passenger safety visit @childseatsafety.
