Child Restraints

1. Child Restraints Protecting Our Young Riders Name Prosecuting Attorney

2. National Alarming Facts • Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 14 and under. • In 2010, 3 children (ages 14 and under) were killed every day; 469 were injured daily.

3. National Alarming Facts • In 2010, 291 children were killed in a motor vehicle crash under the age of 4. • In 2010, 28% of the children killed were totally unrestrained!

4. Alarming Facts • In Michigan, in 2012, 39 children (0-15 years) were killed in motor vehicle crashes. This is a 44% increase in ONE year! • Children ages 2 to 5 who are restrained in adult safety belts are three and a half times more likely to suffer a serious injury, and more than four times more likely to suffer a serious head injury, than children of the same ages who are restrained in child safety seats.

5. Alarming Facts • Misuse of child safety seats is widespread. In Michigan, 74 percent of all child restraints are improperly used, needlessly exposing children to an increased risk of death or injury. • Misuse includes such things as an inappropriate seat for the child’s age and size, placing an infant in a forward-facing seat, not securing the seat tightly in the vehicle and not securing the child correctly.

6. Proper Restraints are Necessary • Infants should ride in rear-facing car seats as long as possible, until they are at least 24 months old and reach the maximum weight determined by the car seat manufacturer. • Children who are at least 2 years old and 40 pounds and can no longer ride rear-facing should ride in forward-facing car seats secured with a harness. • Children more than 40 pounds should be correctly secured in belt-positioning booster seats or other appropriate child restraints until the adult lap and shoulder belts correctly fit. • These are the recommendations from NHTSA and the American Pediatric Association.

7. Common Excuses and the Facts • Excuse: I’m only going a short distance. No need to buckle my child. • Fact: 75% of motor vehicle crashes occur within 25 miles of home. 60% of crashes occur on roads with posted speed limits of 40 mph or less. Note: Don’t forget you have no control of the other drivers on the road.

8. Common Excuses and the Facts • Excuse: I’m holding my child, so there is no need to use a child restraint or safety belt for him or her. • Fact: If you are holding a child in your lap at the time of the crash, the resulting force will increase dramatically. A child weighing 20 pounds in a car traveling at a speed of 30 mph would have a moving force equal to 600 pounds. Can you hold 600 pounds while in a crash?

9. Common Excuses and the Facts • Excuse: There’s no need to use a safety belt for my child, there is an airbag. • Fact: As of 2010, 184 children have been killed by passenger air bags.   • Several of these deaths were among children either unrestrained or improperly restrained at the time of the crash, including infants in rear-facing child safety seats in front of a passenger air bag.

10. Common Excuses and the Facts • Excuse: She thinks she’s too big to be in a car seat. • Fact: Adult safety belts are not designed for a child under 8 or less than 4’ 9” tall. Using an adult belt could increase the child’s risk of serious injury.

11. It’s the Law

12. It’s the Law (cont).

13. What you can do • Never place a child seat in front of an active air bag. • Don’t use a second-hand child car seat. You don’t know the seat’s history. • Destroy any child car seat that has been used in a vehicle that was in a collision.

14. What you can do • Make sure you use the proper child restraint for your child. Look at both the age and height of the child. • Read and follow the car seat instructions carefully and completely ! • Check with your police agency. Many agencies now have certified child passenger safety technicians to assist in ensuring your child restraint is properly secured.