Child Car Seats & Accidents

Car seats reduce injury in motor vehicle wrecks.

Every state in the U.S. has a child restraint law governing children up to a certain age or size. According to Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) statistics, only three states--Florida, Arizona and South Dakota--lack booster seat laws for older children, who are not yet big enough for an adult seat belt. While the law is important, there are other factors to consider, including proper use and installation, to avoid the worst in a traffic accident.

Significance

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 6,532 children, 14 years of age and younger, died in passenger vehicle crashes in 2007. Injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for individuals between the ages of 2 and 34. In 2007, nearly 85,000 youngsters, from birth to 7 years old, suffered passenger vehicle crash-related injuries. In the same year, child restraint devices saved the lives of 425 kids under the age of 4, while seat belt use saved the lives of over 15,000, aged 4 and older.

Infant Seating Position

A May 2008 article in the journal "Pediatrics" found that seating position impacts your child's safety in a crash. In a sample of 4,790 crashes involving 5,358 children from birth to 3 years of age, 30.6 percent of children were seated in the vehicle's left outboard position, 28.2 percent were in the center and 41.2 percent were located in the right outboard position. Study results show that children seated in the center position of the vehicle were 43 percent less likely to suffer crash-related injury than their left-and-right-outboard positioned counterparts.

Booster Seat Use

When your child outgrows her forward-facing car seat with harness, usually at around age 4 and 40 lbs., Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) advises transitioning her to a belt-positioning booster seat until she is at least 8 years of age. CHOP research indicates that when 4 to 8-year-olds ride in the back seat of a vehicle in a booster seat, they are 45 percent less likely to sustain injury in a crash compared to kids using a seat belt alone.

Vehicle Type

If you have children, you may have opted for a minivan or sport utility vehicle (SUV) to accommodate your family's transportation needs. An article in the journal "Injury Prevention" reveals that, in terms of child passenger safety, these two types of vehicles are not created equal. Overall, children were less likely to be injured in an accident when riding in a minivan than in an SUV. The main reason, according to Michael J. Kallan of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is that SUVs are more prone to roll over in a crash than minivans.

Considerations

Depending on where you live, it might be wise to supersede your state's child passenger safety law. Of the 47 states with booster seat laws, as of June 2010, 25 require booster seats for kids until at least their eighth birthday. According to CHOP, you really should not stop using a booster seat until your child reaches a height of 4 feet 9 inches. Your child may not reach this height marker until after they turn 8. Size, rather than age, determines adult seat belt readiness.

References

• "Pediatrics"; Seating Patterns and Corresponding Risk of Injury Among 0- to 3-Year-Old Children in Child Safety Seats; Michael J. Kallan et al.; May 2008
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): Child Safety
• PR Newswire: New National Study of Crash-Involved Children
• "Injury Prevention"; Non-fatal and fatal crash injury risk for children
• Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA): Child Passenger Safety Laws, 2010

Resources

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): 2006 Motor Vehicle Occupant Facts
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP): Car and Booster Seats for Your 4- to 8-year-old