The Importance of Child Passenger Safety

Everyone understands the importance of child passenger safety, but still, car accidents are the number one cause of death amongst kids between the ages of 2-19. Many kids get injured or killed in motor vehicle accidents because they are not buckled up properly.

A study conducted by General Motors and Safe Kids Worldwide had revealed some startling facts.  The study was conducted on 1002 caregivers and parents of kids aged under 10 years of age. In the study, it was found out that 3311 kids had lost their lives in car accidents in 2011. Of them, about 33% died because they were not buckled up properly. During the same period, 263 children were saved in motor vehicle accidents due to restraint use.

Kids get hurt in car accidents not just because they were not buckled up, but also because of improper use of restraint. Many parents would simply buckle up their kids with a seat belt rather than a car seat. However, studies show that kids between the ages of 2-5 who are buckled up in a seat belt are four times more likely to suffer a serious injury in car accidents than those in child safety seats.

Additionally, more than 71 percent of child safety seats are not installed properly. They believe that many child injuries and fatalities can be averted if the child safety seats are properly installed.

According to the Safe kids worldwide survey, 25 percent of the respondents admitted that they had driven around without ensuring that the kid was safely buckled up. Worse still, 21 percent of the surveyed parents said it was safe to drive without buckling up the kids if they were not travelling too far. However, they miss out on a simple fact that 60 percent of the car accidents in which kids get injured or killed happen within 10 minutes of starting from home.

As many as 16 percent of the surveyed parents believed that it was better to keep kids unbuckled during overnight trips. Even though parents may feel that kids are more comfortable without restraint during long hauls, this increases the chances of injury or fatality. Most car accidents involving kids occur during night time.

Missouri law mandates that children be properly restrained while travelling in a motor vehicle. Children less than 4 years or 40 pounds should be restrained in a car seat. Law also states that children between the ages of 4-7 years should be restrained in a booster seat or car seat till they are 80 pounds or 4’9”. Children older than 8 years should be restrained using a seat belt or a booster seat.