Car
“We’re only going to the grocery store.”
“He’ll stop crying if I hold him on my lap.”
“She thinks she’s too old.”
Do any of these sound familiar? They’re all common reasons parents give for not putting their children in appropriate child safety seats or safety belts. Unfortunately, unrestrained or improperly restrained children are far more likely to be injured, to suffer more severe injuries, and to die in the event of a crash.
Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death. In 2001, 1,579 child occupants ages 14 and under died in motor vehicle crashes, and in 2002 an estimated 227,000 were injured. Even if you’re a careful driver, you can’t control other drivers’ behavior or eliminate the possibility of a crash. You can, though, greatly reduce the risk that your children will be seriously injured or killed. To find out how, explore the links below.
Each year approximately 1,800 children ages 14 and under are killed as occupants in motor vehicles, and more than 280,000 are injured. Read more about misuse in Child Passengers at Risk in America: A National Study of Car Seat Misuse (February 1999).
What is the child occupant protection law in your state? Read the Safe Kids report, Child Passengers At Risk: A National Rating of Child Occupant Protection Laws (February 2001), to learn how your state’s law compares with the model law for ensuring maximum child occupant protection.
Restraint usage rates have dramatically improved in the past decade. Yet many children remain inadequately protected. Read more about restraint use in Child Passengers at Risk in America: A National Study of Restraint Use (February 2002).
Read the Safe Kids report, Transportation in Child Care Settings: Parent Knowledge and State Regulation (February 2003) to learn more about parents’ knowledge and experiences regarding transportation safety, specifically as it relates to children in child care.
Follow up on the progress of your state’s child occupant law by reading Closing the Gaps Across the Map: A Progress Report on SAFE KIDS’ Efforts to Improve Child Occupant Protection Laws (February 2004).
To purchase educational materials about child passenger safety, check out our Resource Catalog (off-site link).
