Child Car Seats Help Protect
Kids While Riding In Your car.

Young children travelling in cars need Child Car Seats.

Infants and young children are too small and light in body weight to be properly protected by the seatbelts and airbags in a vehicle.

Active seats belts and airbags are calibration sensitive and may be ineffective in protecting children. In fact, airbags (which explode out of a dash at up to 200 miles per hour) can be outright dangerous for infants and children.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administartion studied 3.3 million airbag deployments that occurred between 1990 and 2008. They concluded that airbags had saved over 6,400 lives. Unfortunately, airbags are thought to have caused 175 fatalities (104 were children) and many severe injuries.

Some Requirements In Various Jurisdictions Regarding Child Safety:

• Child safety seats reduce the risk of death by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers 1 to 4 years (CDC).
  
  
• Kids under 12 years should travel buckled up in the rear in child car seats. This reduces the risk of serious injury by 40% (CDC).
  
  
• The impact on an unrestrained child in a 60 km/hr crash is like falling on to concrete from a fourth floor window (Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne).
  
  

• Kids in cars under 7 years of age must be secured in safety seats.
  
  
• Booster seats are required from age 4 to 14 depending on child's age, height and weight. High back booster seats are safer than "backless" and provide better protection in side-impact crashes.
  
  
• Rear-facing child car seats are not allowed in a front seat with an airbag.
  
  
• Infants slumped forward in a baby seat for long periods can experience difficulty breathing. Frequent stops during long trips are recommended.

• Some countries ban children under 7 years of age and shorter than 140 cm from riding in a front seat with airbags.
  
  
• Some jurisdictions allow children over 1 year and 20 lbs to travel in forward facing seats.
  
  
• However, most Scandinavian countries require rear facing seats until at least 4 years. Sweden has the lowest child mortality rate.
  
  
• Some countries allow children over 4 years and 40 lbs to move into a booster seat. Use of a booster seat reduces the risk of serious injury by 59% (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia).
  
  
• All child restraints have an expiry date... usually 6 years.
  
  
• If an older child in a safety seat must ride in a front seat with airbag, move the seat back as far as possible.
  
  
• After a serious accident child restraints should be destroyed and replaced.
  
  

More detailed information can be found here:

http://www.ou.edu/oupd/kidseat.htm

( The POLICENOTEBOOK... *Highly Recommended).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_car_seat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbag

All you new dads... this one's for you.

The Safety Technology in Car Baby Seats just keeps getting better... however, one study found 70% to 80% of car seats are installed incorrectly.

...an injury prevention specialist demonstrates how to select and install the right seat.

Other Safety Tips To Keep In Mind:

• Don't leave children (or pets) unattended. In summer temperatures can reach dangerously high levels sometimes rising 20 degrees in as many minutes.
  
  
• Don't leave heavy, loose objects lying around on parcel shelves or the back of station wagons. They can become flying missiles in a crash.
  
  
• Power windows can strangle or seriously injure children. Never leave kids in a car unattended with the ignition key in the "on" or "accessory" position. Activate the "Power Window Lock Switch".
  
  
• Teach kids not to play in or around cars...especially the trunk where they can get trapped inside and endanger themselves in extreme temperatures.