The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) primary goal for child passenger safety is to make sure all parents and caregivers are correctly using the right car seats (rear-facing car seats, forward-facing car seats, and/or booster seats) or seat belts for their children’s ages and sizes.
 
During Child Passenger Safety Week, being held September 20-26, 2020, many communities will have certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians on hand to provide free education on how to use car seats, booster seats, and seat belts. Technicians will help educate consumers about choosing the right car seat for a child, installing that seat correctly in their vehicle, and using that seat correctly every time. They can also discuss the importance of registering that car seat with its manufacturer, and what to expect if the seat is subject to a safety recall. The week concludes with National Seat Check Saturday on September 26, when certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians across the country will be available at car seat safety check events to offer advice and instruction to parents and caregivers.
 
KEY STATISTICS
Lives lost and injuries

• Car crashes are a leading cause of death for children.
• Every 32 seconds in 2018, one child under the age of 13 in a passenger vehicle was involved in a crash.
• From 2014 to 2018, there were 3,315 children under 13 killed while riding in passenger vehicles. Fatalities decreased from 2017 to 2018, a continuation of the 2016-2017 fatality decrease, which marked the first decrease since 2014.
• On average, nearly two children under 13 were killed every day in 2018 while riding in cars, SUVs, pickups, and vans.
• From 2014 to 2018, there were 1,158 “tweens” (8 to 12 years old) killed in passenger vehicles. 
• In 2018, the 8-to-12 age group had the highest number of fatalities (222) among children in passenger vehicles. In 2017, the <1-to-3 age group had the highest number of fatalities at 249, or 37%, with a decrease to 219 (35%) in 2018.
• In 2018, approximately one-third (33%) of children under 13 killed in passenger vehicles were not restrained in car seats, booster seats, or seat belts.
• Of the children under 13 involved in crashes in 2018, an estimated 14% were injured.
• From 2017 to 2018, the number of children under 13 injured in a crash remained steady.
• Statistically, more crashes occur during “school hours” (during the day, Monday through Friday).

 
Car seats, booster seats, and seat belts save lives

• In 2017, among children under 5, car seats saved an estimated 312 lives. A total of 371 children could have survived if they had been buckled up 100% of the time.

 
Car seats work best when used correctly

• In passenger cars, car seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% for infants and by 54% for toddlers. For infants and toddlers in light trucks, the corresponding reductions were 58% and 59%, respectively.
• Most parents are confident that they have correctly installed their child’s car seat, but in most cases (59%), the seat has not been installed correctly.
• According to NHTSA data, in 2015, about 25.8% of children 4 to 7 were prematurely moved to seat belts, when they should have been riding in booster seats.

 
Child passenger safety laws

• For the past 30 years, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories have had laws requiring children to be secured in the appropriate car seats or booster seats for their ages and sizes while riding in cars.
• States now require children to ride in appropriate car seats or booster seats until as old as age 9.

 
Remember

• Remember to read and carefully follow the installation instructions included with a car seat, as well as the vehicle owner's manual. Failure to do this can lead to incorrect installation, exposing a child passenger to the risk of injury or death in a crash.
• All children under 13 should always ride in the back seat.
• Tethers should always be used for forward-facing car seats.

 
For the purpose of this information, the following terms and definitions are used:

• “Children killed/injured in car crashes” are defined as passenger car, van, pickup, and SUV passengers under 13 years old killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes; and
• “Tweens killed in car crashes” are defined as passenger car, van, pickup, and SUV passengers 8 to 12 years old killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes.

By Dan Copp / Staff Writer, Houma Today

Safety experts are asking parents and guardians to be ready for Louisiana’s new child car seat law that takes effect Thursday.

In June, Gov. John Bel Edwards signed the new measure, which aims to better protect child passengers. According to the Louisiana Department of Health, 110 children up to the age of 14 were killed in vehicle crashes over the past three years.
Under the new law, children age 13 and under must be properly restrained in the back seat.

“The big thing with this new law is that the children have to be 13 now instead of 12 before they can ride in the front seat,” said Cynthia Cage, a child safety seat specialist with the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana. “They want you to keep the children rear-facing as long as possible. Overall, it’s making sure that parents are adhering to the height and weight limits on the car seat. Injuries are the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 14, and a lot of that is due to car accidents. Children need to be properly restrained at all times.”
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Under the new law:

• Children 2 and under must ride in rear-facing child safety seats.
• Children at least 2 years old who have outgrown the rear-facing seat by height or weight must ride in a forward-facing safety seat with an internal harness.
• Children ages 4-9 who have outgrown the forward-facing seat with internal harness by weight or height must ride in a booster seat using a lap-shoulder seat belt.
• Passengers ages 9-12 or children who have outgrown the booster seat can ride using a seat belt if they can pass the “Five Step Test.” This means their knees bend at the edge of the seat while their back is against the vehicle seat. The belt fits snugly across the child’s thighs and lower hips and not their abdomen. The shoulder strap should snugly cross the center of the child’s chest and not the neck.
• Any children under 13 must also ride in a back seat when available.