Child Safety Restraints
Recent reports have shown that auto accidents are the leading cause of death in children over 1 year old. These deaths occur due to the lack of or improper use of child safety restraints.
Has your child been injured in an auto accident due to improper child safety restraints? If so, contact one of our auto accident lawyers in your area today!
Though restraint use by young children (0-7 years old) has been going up over recent years, adults are still placing their young children in the front seat. Currently, approximately 15% of infants, 10% of todlers (1-3 year olds), and 29% of booster-age children (4-7 year olds) are still sitting in the front seat of the car, even after the warnings that this seat is the most dangerous place to put a child.
Some child injury prevention strategies include:
- Children up to 1 year old and at least 20 lbs should be seated in an infant only or rear-facing convertible car seat in the backseat.
- Children over 1 year and between 20 and 40 lbs should be seated in a convertible, forward-facing car seat in the backseat.
- Children between 4 and 7 years old and over 40 lbs (unless they are 4'9'' tall) should be seated in a belt positioned, forward-facing booster seat in the back seat.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over the course of 1 year, 1,471 child passengers aged 0 to 14 died in auto accidents the United States. In addition, more than 250,000 sustained injuries which required hospital treatment. Many of these injuries could have been prevented if the child was propertly restrained.
Has your child been injured in an auto accident due to improper child safety restraints? If so, contact one of our auto accident attorneys in your area today!
Updated: LW |
