Safe Kids Clark County News Articles
Written on Sunday, January 29th, 2006
February 12-18 is Child Passenger Safety Week
Most parents know that babies and toddlers need to be restrained in a car seat, properly installed and adjusted, every time they ride in a car. Unfortunately, parents and caregivers aren't doing nearly as good a job protecting older kids in cars — kids who should be riding on booster seats. Babies and toddlers ride restrained more than 90 percent of the time, while children ages 4-7 ride restrained only 73 percent of the time. That's a huge difference, and it shows that parents don?t understand the importance of safety restraints for older kids.
Kids who have outgrown car seats are safer (and more comfortable) riding on a booster seat until they're at least 4'9" (57") tall and 80 to 100 pounds. Many children do not reach this point until age 10 or older, yet adult safety belts alone do not properly fit children who have not yet reached this point.
Safe Kids Clark County will teach parents how to select, install and adjust car seats for younger kids and to conduct the Safety Belt Fit Test to determine whether older kids are big enough to graduate from a booster to an adult safety belt. With this simple test, which is also available online at www.usa.safekids.org, parents can see for themselves whether the adult safety belt provides enough protection to a growing child.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading killer of children under 14, and the best way to keep your child safe is to use proper restraints, correctly, every time. First, make sure all children under age 13 ride in the back seat. A certified Child Passenger Safety Technician can help you select the right kind of safety restraint for your child's age, weight and height; teach you how to secure your child in the seat correctly; and teach you how to install the seat into your car correctly. Then it's your responsibility to make sure everyone in the car is properly restrained on every ride. (Parents and caregivers, remember: you are a role model. Safe Kids Worldwide published a study in May 2005 showing a definite link between adult safety behavior and kid's safety habits.)
Visit our car seat events page to see all of our scheduled events.