• 21
  • September
    2010

When a child is born most parents rush out and obtain all the necessary gear to ensure their child's safety. This week is Child Passenger Safety Week in North Carolina. The state is reminding parents and grandparents that those steps to safety are effective, and the use of a properly installed child's passenger seat will ensure that your child is safer in an auto accident than without one.

There is no doubt that child safety seats and safety belts are effective. Child safety seats in passenger vehicles reduce the risk of fatal injuries to infants by 71 percent and reduce the risk to toddlers by 54 percent. Additionally, seatbelts reduce the risk of fatalities for older children who ride in front passenger seats by 45 percent.

The idea to use properly secured child passenger seats and proper seatbelt use may seem obvious, but the National Highway Safety Administration reports that three out of four child passenger seats are not installed properly. Moreover, the leading source of fatalities for children age 3 to 14 is motor vehicle accidents. The use of safety belts and safety seats by themselves is not enough to ensure safety. It is the proper installation of child passenger seats and the proper use of seatbelts that is crucial.

The situation is not all doom and gloom. Plenty of progress has been made in securing children during accidents since the child passenger safety law went into effect in 1981. Only 10 percent of children involved in crashes were properly secured in 1981. In 2009 over 90 percent of children involved in crashes were properly secured. Also, over the last three years more than 1000 children have been saved by properly secured safety equipment.

To ensure your loved ones are secure, safety clinics and child passenger seat installation checks are being held throughout North Carolina from September 19 to 25.

Source: Thegovmontior.com, "North Carolina Holds Child Passenger Safety Week," 9/21/10