Study shows Colo. car seat use declines in 2010
Safety officials say the drop in car seat use and the low overall seat belt use among children highlights the need for continued education to parents and caregivers about the best ways to keep children safe while traveling in a motor vehicle. Several times a week I pick up a newspaper or hear on the news about a toddler dying from adult abuse of some type. These adults range in age from mothers to boyfriends to fathers to babysitters to playmates. And the abuse ranges over a wide spectrum from drunk driver, to a 16 year old baby sitter talking on the phone while the three year wanders into the backyard and drowns in the swimming pool, to a stressed out parent being late for work, forgetting to drop the infant off at the sitter’s home, but leaves her in the smeltering heat of the car all day. Children are our precious gifts, given into our care for a short time, to guide as they develop into adults. This includes keeping them safe and secure in their environment; after all, we are the adult.
Child Passenger Safety Week was September 19-25. Car crashes are the leading cause of death of children 3 to 14 years old. Adults are responsible for driving the cars. Adults are responsible for placing children in car safety seats. What I don’t understand is the WHY parents don’t take the time to correctly place their child in car seats, after all it is the law in all fifty states. Overall, an average of four children under the age of four are killed in motor vehicle crashes every day in the U.S., but many injuries and fatalities are easily preventable. We, as adults, need to see that our precious cargo is safe when making trips in the automobile.
We can begin by teaching them safety in and around cars. Remind your child that they should not play in and around park cars. The number of heat related deaths in automobiles in 2010 in children is rising. We need to teach them not to play with the windows or door locks, or climb in a parked car to play. When someone starts an engine, they should move away from the car immediately. Rollover deaths are a tragic way to die. Another way to keep your child safe is to provide the proper car seats and use them correctly. Safety seats can reduce vehicle-related injuries by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers. Because of new research, AAA now urges parents to keep children in rear-facing child safety seats until they exceed the weight or height limits of the car seat. Toddlers who ride in a rear-facing car seat up to their second birthday are 75 percent less likely to die or be seriously injured in a crash. In countries where children ride in rear-facing seats until ages 3 or 4, crash data show a further reduction in injuries and death. Parents are also encouraged to talk to their kids as they get older about safety in the car. So kids don’t try to get out of their cars seats or unbuckle their seat belts.
Infants should be placed in a car seat in the back of the car and have the car seat facing the rear. Current standards require children to ride in rear-facing seats until they are at least 1 year old or 20 pounds. Within the next six months, the American Academy of Pediatrics is expected to adopt a policy to keep children in rear-facing child safety seats longer. Car seat manufacturers have begun developing safety seats that will enable children up to 40 pounds to ride in rear-facing seats. As kids grow, the child seat will be replaced will a forward-facing booster seat until the child is 4’9″. AAA says most manufacturing companies include information on the required measurements and weight limits for parents. You need to take the time to read this information for the correct installation and length of time the child should use the safety seat.
Don’t forget your unborn child. During pregnancy, wearing a seat belt low across the abdomen protects you and your unborn child. It is better to be safe, than to die.
Child Passenger Safety Week should continue all year long for the safety of our children. For those parents that always check to see that the children are safely secured in the car, I give a high five!
