Tragic highway wreck highlights importance of safety restraints for both children and adults June 5, 2009

On Tuesday outside Orlando on Florida’s Turnpike, a 9-month-old baby boy suffered serious injuries and his mother was killed when the van they were passengers in blew a tire and rolled over. The mother was not wearing her seat belt and the boy was sitting unharnessed in his child safety seat which was not secured to the van.

The Florida Child Injury Lawyer Blog urges you to take simple steps to ensure your safety and the safety of your child in traffic. Driving on Florida’s roads is almost always the most dangerous thing we do each day by a long measure. In the United States alone, car accidents are responsible for one death every 13 minutes.

One simple step can go a long way in reducing traffic fatalities: use proper restraints for you and your child. Using proper child-safety equipment in your car or vehicle can decrease your child’s risk of suffering injury by 80 percent. That bears repeating … 80 percent. Just putting your child into a car seat reduces their risk of injury by 80 percent.

Let’s review the different types of child safety equipment available today for cars, trucks and other vehicles. Different types of safety restraints are appropriate for children of different ages.

For infants younger than one year, their weight determines the appropriate safety seat. If they weigh less than 20 pounds, you should use a rear-facing infant seat. If your child is larger however, in the range of 20-35 pounds, you should use a rear-facing convertible seat instead of a rear-facing infant seat. In either case, be sure to fasten the car seat to your vehicle’s back seat.

If your child is between 35-40 pounds, you can turn them around into a front-facing convertible car seat. Remember though to always fasten this car seat in your back seat, not the front.

Once your child weighs more than 40 pounds, it’s time for a booster seat. Booster seats are typically appropriate from the age of four to eight and should be used until your child is at least 57 inches tall. Once they have grown to that height, they can safely use regular seat belts as adults.

For each of these child safety devices, make sure the seat top is at least one inch above your child’s head. If it is not, head, neck or back injury can result.

Now that you know which type of seat is appropriate for your child, let’s look at proper installation and other common questions:

Proper installation for rear-facing seats

• Strap everything down tightly and securely. Be sure the car seat is strapped to your back seat tightly and that the harness fits your child snugly. If the seat moves more than one inch in any direction, you haven’t installed it securely enough.

• Improperly installed car seats can be just as dangerous as not using one. Never put a rear-facing car seat in your front seat if your front passenger air bag is active. In that position, the air bag will hit the back of the seat where your baby’s head is. Serious injuries and death have resulted from such impacts.

• Check that the car seat does not allow your baby’s head to fall forward. If your car seat did not come with an angle adjustment mechanism, you can change the angle yourself safely by simply inserting a rolled-up towel or something similar under your child’s car seat at the place where your vehicle’s back and bottom meet.

• Still having trouble? There may be a certified Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Technician in your area who can help. Just Google CPS Technician.

Troubleshooting

1) If your baby slides to the side or down in his or her car seat, never pad under your child. Always apply padding around him or her. Don’t use safety inserts unless they are manufacturer approved for that specific car seat.

2) Premature babies should not ride in car seats unless they have been tested to see if they are able.

Proper installation for forward-facing seats

• Again, check that the car seat is strapped into your vehicle tightly and that the harness fits your child snugly. If the car seat can move one inch in any direction, you haven’t secured it well enough.

• Make sure the shoulder straps are at or above your child’s shoulders.

• Check the instructions to be sure you have run the seat belt through the correct path for the seat to face forward. It can be easy to run the seat belt through the path meant for the rear-facing position.

• All vehicles newer than September 2000 have tether straps that run from the top of the car seat to anchor it to your vehicle. Tethers protect you child’s head from moving too far forward in the even of an accident or abrupt stop. If you have an older car, buy a tether kit and install it. Do not use a tether kit meant for a different seat.

Troubleshooting

1) All children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat. If you absolutely must transport more children than can fit (safely) in the back seat, the next best option is to have a child who is in a forward-facing seat ride in the front. If you must do this, move your vehicle seat as far backwards as you can. The goal is to move the seat and the child as far away from the dashboard and air bag as you can.

2) Remember, these safety precautions are simple and should be followed by everyone who drives your child. If your child is driven by someone else (child care or school, etc), they are in the right seat for their age and weight and the seat is installed properly. Ask your day care center to read their written protocol for driving children. Check to see if it includes provisions for driver’s licenses, staff-to-child ratios, and supervision by someone other than the driver.

Proper installation for booster seats

There are only three things you need to do to properly install a booster seat:

• Booster seats require both the lap belt and shoulder belt portions of the seat belt. Never allow a child in a booster seat to wear just the lap belt portion. That exposes him or her to severe head and neck injuries in the event of an accident as there is no restraint to secure the upper body from moving.

• The shoulder belt must cross the center of your child’s chest and shoulder. If the shoulder belt is not in the middle of the chest and shoulder, it can cause internal injuries in a crash.

• The lap belt must be placed across your child’s upper thighs, not his or her belly. Again, if the lap belt is placed across the belly, internal injuries can occur.

Troubleshooting

1) If your car’s back seat has only lap belts and no shoulder belts, you should not use a booster seat. Instead, find a forward-facing car seat that is built for older and larger children. In addition, some travel vests are compatible with lap belts. In some types of vehicles, you can install aftermarket shoulder belts.

2) Manufacturers sell two different types of booster seats: high-back and backless. Use the high-back models if your car does not have a head rest or if your car has low seats. The backless variety are more convenient because they are easier to move from car to car. In addition they are almost always cheaper.

Adult seat belts

Once your children are about 4′ 9″ tall, they can wear adult seat belts. Just be sure the fit as described in the booster seat section above and that children do not put the shoulder belt behind their back. Also, never let children share seat belts.