Governor’s Highway Safety Office Remind Parents of Importance of Child Passenger Safety

Nashville, Tenn. — According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), approximately 7,500 lives have been saved by the proper use of child restraints during the past 20 years. Still, motor vehicle crashes remain the number one killer of children ages 4 to 14 in America, largely because of improper use or non-use of child safety seats and booster seats.
The Governor’s Highway Safety Office (GHSO) is joining with NHTSA and other state and local leaders around Valentine’s Day this year to commemorate Child Passenger Safety Week (Feb. 11-17).

“In 2005, an average of five children, ages 14 and younger were killed and 640 were injured in motor vehicle crashes every single day in the United States,” said Kendell Poole, Director, GHSO. “That’s why we’ll be working hard during Child Passenger Safety Week and throughout the year talking to parents and caregivers about the importance of properly restraining children in vehicles.”
While 98 percent of America’s infants and 93 percent of children ages 1 to 3 are regularly restrained, not enough children ages 4 through 7 are restrained properly for their size and age. Only 10 to 20 percent of children ages 4 through 7 who should be using booster seats to protect them are actually in them. Children ages 4 to 8 who are placed in booster seats are 59 percent less likely to be injured in a car crash than children who are restrained only by a seat belt, according to a study by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“As children grow, the proper methods of securing them in a car, truck, van or SUV change,” Commissioner Gerald Nicely, Tennessee Department of Transportation, said. “It’s important for parents and caregivers to understand which child restraints are appropriate for their child. It is equally important for parents and caregivers to be role models for their children by buckling up during every trip, every time.”

Expectant mothers are also reminded to always wear a seat belt to protect their unborn children in the event of a crash. Expectant mothers should wear the lap belt across the hips and below the belly with the shoulder belt across the chest.

For maximum child passenger safety, parents and caregivers simply need to remember and follow the 4 Steps for Kids:

1. For the best possible protection keep infants in the back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible up to the height or weight limit of the particular seat. At a minimum, keep infants rear-facing until a minimum of age 1 and at least 20 pounds;
2. When children outgrow their rear-facing seats (at a minimum age 1 and at least 20 pounds) they should ride in forward-facing child safety seats, in the back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds);
3. Once children outgrow their forward-facing seats (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds), they should ride in booster seats, in the back seat, until the vehicle seat belts fit properly. Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall);
4. When children outgrow their booster seats, (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall) they can use the adult seat belt in the back seat, if it fits properly (lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt across the chest).“This year, during Child Passenger Safety Week, we are working hard to remind all parents, grandparents and child care providers that if their children are under 4’9”, they need to be in a booster seat,” said Poole. “What better way to show that you love your children on Valentine’s Day than to make sure they are secured properly. Make it the law in your car - it might actually save your children’s lives.”

   For more information about Child Passenger Safety Week and the proper use of booster seats, please visit www.BoosterSeat.gov, www.SaferCar.gov or www.SeatCheck.org.