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Preventing Childhood Injuries -- Buckle Up with Car Seat Safety
One out of every 60 children born today will die in a car crash. You can keep your child from being one of them by using a child safety seat or seat belt consistently and properly. Courtesy of Children's Health Care of Atlanta and SAFE KIDS, GoBabies will provide a series of tips from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to help parents keep their children safe on the road. First, understand why you need to buckle up. No matter how busy you are, buckle up yourself and your child every time you drive. Other people may not be paying as much attention to the road as you are. * It is just as important to buckle up on short trips because most crashes occur within 25 miles of home at speeds less than 40 mph. * It is not safe to hold a baby in your arms in a car. In a crash at 30 mph, a 10-pound baby would be ripped from an adult's arms with a force of almost 300 pounds. * A child improperly buckled up is 25 times more likely to die if thrown from the vehicle than a child who is properly buckled up. * All 50 states have laws requiring children to be buckled up in both the front and back seats. Children under age 4 and 40 pounds must be buckled into approved child safety seats. TIP # 1 -- Match Your Safety Seat to Your Vehicle When shopping for a child safety seat, try it in your vehicle before you buy it. (Not every safety seat fits into every vehicle.) Check your vehicle owner's manual and the safety seat's manual for more information. * Look for safety seats with weight limits greater than twenty pounds in the rear-facing position. These are especially good for infants above average in weight. Safety seats with higher rear-facing weight limits allow your child to ride rear-facing longer, giving him better head, neck, and spine protection. * Remember to fill out and mail in the registration card for your safety seat so you will be notified in case of a recall. * If you are shopping for a new vehicle and you already have a child safety seat, bring the safety seat and the seat's manual with you to make sure it fits into the new vehicle. * Look for a vehicle that makes it easy for you to put your baby in the back seat. * It is important to have lap/shoulder belts in the back seat because they help keep older children safe while traveling. TIP # 2 - Read the Instructions When you install a safety seat, be sure to read the safety seat instructions and the child-restraint section in your vehicle owner’s manual. Children under age 12 are usually safest in the back seat in safety seats or safety belts. Check both sets of instructions to be sure.
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