The LATCH system (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) is now required in new vehicles and on new child safety seats, making installation easier and more convenient for parents and caregivers. Installing new child safety seats in new vehicles will no longer require the use of safety belts. It is expected that the expected result of more correct child safety seat installation will prevent thousands of child injuries and dozens of child deaths each year.
Children are 10 times more likely to die when riding in a cargo bed than while riding in the passenger area. Each year, children account for more than half of the 200 deaths resulting from riding in cargo beds. Ejection during a crash is the most common cause of death and injury. However, even if there is no crash and you are driving at a low speed, sudden swerving, stopping or bumpy roads can cause injury to children in the cargo bed or who fall out of the vehicle. Cargo covers do not provide protection.
By Akber Butt (558043)
"We're only going down the road."
"He’ll stop crying if I hold him on my lap."
"She thinks she’s too old."
Do any of these sound familiar? They’re all common reasons parents give for not putting their children in appropriate child safety seats or safety belts. Unfortunately, unrestrained or improperly restrained children are far more likely to be injured, to suffer more severe injuries, and to die in the event of a crash.
Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death. In 2000, 1,654 child occupants ages 14 and under died in motor vehicle crashes, and in 2001 an estimated 228,000 were injured. Even if you’re a careful driver, you can’t control other drivers’ behavior or eliminate the possibility of a crash. You can, though, greatly reduce the risk that your children will be seriously injured or killed. To find out how, please read on.
The bottom line is that how your child rides in your car may be just as important as external factors such as vehicle speed and road conditions.
Riding unrestrained is the single greatest risk factor for death and injury among child motor vehicle occupants. Among children ages 14 and under killed as occupants in motor vehicle crashes in 2001, 55 percent were not using safety restraints at the time of the collision.
Misuse is common. An estimated 85 percent of children who are placed in child safety seats and booster seats are improperly restrained. Misuse includes but is not limited to: using an inappropriate seat for the child’s age and size, placing an infant who is either under 1 year or under 20 pounds in a forward-facing seat, not securing the seat tightly in the vehicle and not securing the child correctly in the seat.
The back seat is safest. It is estimated that children ages 12 and under are up to 36 percent less likely to die in a crash if they are in the rear seat of a passenger vehicle.
Other risk factors:
· As of October 1, 2002, 137 children have been killed by passenger air bags. Almost all children killed by passenger air bags were either unrestrained or improperly restrained at the time of the crash.
· Most crashes (75 percent) occur within 25 miles of home. The majority also occur on roads with posted speed limits of 40 mph or less.
· In 2001, 23 percent of all traffic deaths among children ages 14 and under involve alcohol. Of the children killed in alcohol-related crashes, more than half were passengers in vehicles with drunk drivers. .
· Rural areas have higher motor vehicle crash incidence rates and death rates; crashes in these areas also tend to be more severe.
The single most important thing you can do to protect your children is to buckle them up properly, every time. It works: from 1975 through 2001, an estimated 5,085 child lives were saved by the use of safety seats or adult belts.
Child safety seats, when correctly installed and used, reduce the risk of death by up to 71 percent. They also reduce the need for hospitalization by 69 percent for children ages 4 and under. But finding the right seat can be confusing. It’s important to use a seat that is appropriate for your child’s age and size, and that fits properly in your vehicle. Here are some guidelines that can help:
∙ All children ages 12 and under should ride in the back seat.
∙ Infants should be in rear-facing child safety seats until at least 20 pounds and at least 1 year old. Never put a rear-facing infant or convertible safety seat in the front seat of a vehicle with an active passenger air bag.
∙ Children over 1 year old and between 20 and 40 pounds can be in forward-facing child safety seats, or in rear-facing convertible seats if the child has not reached the maximum rear-facing weight.
∙ Children ages 4 to 8 (about 40 to 80 pounds) should be in a booster seat and restrained with lap and shoulder belts every time they ride. Adult safety belts alone do not adequately protect children this size from injury in a crash.
∙ Usually, children over 80 pounds and 8 years old can fit correctly in lap/shoulder belts. When the child is sitting all the way back against the vehicle seat, the lap belt should fit across the child’s hips, not the stomach. The shoulder belt should cross the center of the shoulder. Do not let your children put shoulder belts under their arms or behind their backs. This could result in serious injuries.
∙ Read your child safety seat instruction manual and vehicle owner’s manual carefully for proper installation. The seat should be locked tightly against the vehicle seat – it should not move more than 1 inch forward or side to side.
The LATCH system (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) is now required in new vehicles and on new child safety seats, making installation easier and more convenient for parents and caregivers. Installing new child safety seats in new vehicles will no longer require the use of safety belts. It is expected that the expected result of more correct child safety seat installation will prevent thousands of child injuries and dozens of child deaths each year.
Background
According to SAFE KIDS BUCKLE UP Car Seat Check Up event data, 67 percent of child safety seats are installed incorrectly, placing the children they are meant to protect at greater risk of injury. This is largely because there are many different ways to install safety seats, depending on which safety belt systems are being used to anchor them. With dozens of possible combinations, parents and caregivers must determine which type of belt they are using, what part of the belt system locks a safety seat in place, and whether special installation techniques or hardware are needed.
In 1995, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recognized that child safety seats were often difficult to install, and that in some cases, compatibility issues with certain belt systems interfered with secure installation. The agency tasked the Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Restraint and Vehicle Compatibility with making installation easier and more convenient. While the panel’s immediate recommendations focused on better educational efforts, long-term recommendations centered around a uniform system for attaching child safety seats to vehicles.
Why Kids Are at Risk
The popularity of trucks is growing every year, and more parents are using trucks to transport their families. Children are 10 times more likely to die when riding in a cargo bed than while riding in the passenger area. Each year, children account for more than half of the 200 deaths resulting from riding in cargo beds. Ejection during a crash is the most common cause of death and injury. However, even if there is no crash and you are driving at a low speed, sudden swerving, stopping or bumpy roads can cause injury to children in the cargo bed or who fall out of the vehicle. Cargo covers do not provide protection. In fact, they can potentially lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Protecting Your Family
- Never allow anyone to ride in the bed of a pickup truck or an LGV, HGV etc.
- Always use child safety seats and/or safety belts correctly.
- Child safety seats must not be used on side-facing or rear-facing jump seats.
- Be sure at least 80 percent of the child safety seat base is on the truck’s seat.
- Never place a rear-facing infant seat in front of an air bag. Please see your owner’s manual regarding the passenger air bag cut-off switch.
- Restrain children ages 12 and under in the back in a forward-facing seat. If there is no back seat available, forward-facing children (over 1 year of age and at least 20 pounds) should be placed in their appropriate child safety seat with the vehicle seat pushed as far back as possible.
