Summary Technologies That Aid Transportation

If you were born before 1978, there is a reasonable chance you rode unrestrained in a vehicle unrestrained as a young child. Child restraint laws were not commonplace until the early 1980s, with Tennessee passing the first child restraint law in 1978 and the last state in the country following suit in 1985, according to “Thirty Years of Progress for Child Passenger Protection” in an article by Safe Ride News. With the advances in technology and a greater understanding of child safety, few parents now would allow a child to ride unrestrained in a motor vehicle. Several factors make car seat use crucial to protecting your child from serious injury and death.

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 12 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that in 2011 alone 650 children younger than 13 died while riding as a passenger in a motor vehicle. Of the 650 children killed in a motor vehicle accident, 200 were unrestrained, with the remaining deaths resulting from improper use of a restraint including a car seat or seat belt. While car seats and seat belts do not eliminate the chance of death or injury from a vehicle accident, the use of child restraints significantly reduces the risks. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that the proper use of child restraints reduces the risk of fatal injury by up to 71 percent for infants and up to 59 percent for children ages 1 to 4.

Allowing your child to ride in a motor vehicle without the proper child restraint puts not only your child’s life at risk but also the life of the passengers in the vehicle. When a crash occurs, three phases or collisions happen according to the World Health Organization. The first collision occurs between the vehicle and the object it strikes. The second collision occurs between unrestrained occupants of the vehicle and stationary objects within the vehicle, such as seats, windows, windshield and dashboards. Finally, the third collision happens when the internal organs of the vehicle occupants collide with the chest wall or skeletal structure. The World Health Organization suggests that the fatal injuries that occur in vehicle crashes are a result of the second collision. When unrestrained, vehicle occupants will move through the vehicle at the same rate of speed that the crash occurred at through momentum. Unrestrained or improperly restrained occupants cannot only collide with stationary objects in the vehicle or suffer ejection from the vehicle; an unrestrained occupant can also collide with other vehicle occupants, resulting in serious injuries.

There are three categories of child restraint systems, each of these car seats have different benefits because each are for different age groups. For infants, a rear-facing child restraint is required; these restraints can be in the form of an infant carrier, or a convertible car seat. Your child should remain rear-facing until he is at least 2 years and 20 pounds. The next step for your child is a forward-facing, five-point harness system; this type of seat can be a convertible seat that you turn forward-facing or a separate seat you purchase for your forward-facing child. Your child should remain in the five-point harness until is at least 4 years old and 40 pounds. The last stage of child restraints is a booster seat; these seats give an added boost in height to your child to help him fit properly within a vehicle’s seat belt. He should remain in a booster seat until he is at least 8 years old, or 4 feet, 9 inches in height, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In order for a child restraint to work correctly, proper use and installation is crucial. Use the LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) system or a seat belt to secure car seats in vehicles. In most towns and municipalities, you can take your vehicle to the fire or police station to make check for proper installation. When riding in a five-point harness seat, the straps should be tight enough to allow only one finger between the strap and your child’s chest, with the chest clip level with your child’s armpits; when in a booster, the seat belt should fall across the chest and along the thighs of your child.