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Child Safety Seats: Prevent the Most Common Form of Child Abuse

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death of children. If all kids rode buckled in child safety seats, 53,000 injuries could be prevented and 500 lives could be saved each year.

Even if you are traveling only a short distance with your child in the car, always properly restrain your child. Infants under 20 lbs. should be placed in a rear-facing safety seat. Children 20 - 40 lbs. should be placed in a forward-facing child safety seat. Children over 40 lbs. can ride in a specially designed safety booster seat or restrained with a buckled seat belt.

While parents are well-advised to use child safety seats, misuse of them has been a problem. The two most frequent forms of misuse are (1) failure to buckle the child in the child seat, and (2) failure to buckle the child seat to the vehicle. Also, infant carriers, portable beds and similar devices should never be used in a motor vehicle. They are not a replacement for child safety seats.

DO NOT PLACE A REAR-FACING INFANT SEAT IN A SEATING POSITION EQUIPPED WITH AN AIR BAG. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration advises that rear-facing infant seats be placed only in the rear seats of vehicles, not in the front passenger seats. While air bags have proven to be tremendous lifesavers, they don't mix with infant seats.

The safest place for any kind on child safety seat is the center of the rear seat. That is the farthest point from the most common type of crash (frontal), and provides the safest distance from side impacts as well.

It is understandable that many parents wish to have the kids where they can be seen. For this reason, marketers are now selling mirrors that allow visual contact while the child safety seat is in the rear of the vehicle.

Source: "Operation Buckle Down Dispatch," National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, July 1992.