Car Seats: Saving Our Future

Car Seats: Saving Our Future

Pascasl, Flickr.com

The children of today are the future of tomorrow. Keeping these young people safe should be of the utmost importance. If that’s the truth, why are we leaving them out of car seats and unprotected while they are riding in cars?

According to the latest data, there were 437 documented motor vehicle deaths of children between the ages of 1-14 just in Missouri (Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, 1 et. al). This number does include motor vehicle deaths that may have been recorded under unintentional injuries. About half of unintentional injury deaths in Missouri are due to car crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that car crashes were the leading cause of death for most child age groups. These deaths could have been avoided if proper recommendations would have been followed for car seats.

Recommendations on car seats vary. The following table shows the difference between Missouri Law recommendations and the recommendations provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Missouri law only covers 1 out of these 3 Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for child car safety regulations. The recommendations in this chart are the minimum recommendations.

	Missouri Law	American Academy of Pediatrics
Rear-facing car seat until at least age 1		X
Booster Seats required until at least age 8	X	X
Rear Seat until at least age 11		X

Car seat and booster seat requirements don’t just go by age, but as by weight and height as well. A child should be at least 80lbs or more than 4 foot 9 inches before they are out of a car seat or booster seat (AAP, 1). Parents should know how to use a car seat correctly, because misusing a car seat can cause just as much damage as not using one at all. There are many places online, like the Department of Motor Vehicle’s website that you can go to so as to learn how to properly install a car seat. You can also use St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s Safety Stop program to buy car seats or have them check to make sure your child’s car seat is a proper fit. Kids need to be in car seats so that they can be safe, because everyone knows accidents happen.

For more information visit any of the references below.

REFERENCES

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2011). AAP updates recommendation on car seats. Retrieved from https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/aap-updates-recommendation-on-car-seats.aspx.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. (2014). Child health profile. [Data file]. Retrieved from http://health.mo.gov/data/mica/ASPsChildHealth/header.php?cnty=929.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2011). Fatality analysis reporting system. [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.nhtsa.gov/FARS.

Pascal. (2013).On the road. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com.