Kids in the car

Seeing all of the little kiddos climbing onto schoolbusses last week has really gotten me thinking about automobile safety.

I found some interesting statistics on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website that I thought I'd share. Be careful!!!!

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for the age group 2 to 14 years old (based on 2004 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics).

Every day in the United States, an average of 5 children age 14 and younger were killed and 568 were injured in motor vehicle crashes during 2006.

Research has shown that lap/shoulder seat belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front seat occupants (age 5 and older) of passenger cars by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent.

Research on the effectiveness of child safety seats has found them to reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants (less than 1 year old) and by 54 percent for toddlers (1-4 years old) in passenger cars.

Important Safety Reminders

Failure to read the child safety seat instructions, in addition to vehicle owner manual instructions regarding seat belts, could result in serious injury or death as a result of a failure of the child safety seat to be securely and/or properly restrained. Children in rear-facing child seats should not be placed in the front seat of vehicles equipped with passenger-side air bags. The impact of a deploying air bag striking a rear-facing child seat could result in injury to the child.

NHTSA also recommends that children 12 and under sit in the rear seat away from the force of a deploying air bag. Children age 12 and under are safest when properly buckled in the back seat of a motor vehicle. Always read the child restraint manufacturer instructions and the vehicle owner manual instructions.
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