Accident News

Child Passenger Safety

Proper restraints, correctly installed, save lives of our youngest passengers

• The grim facts:
  Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death to children.
  Of those chidren involved in fatal crashes in 2003, 15 percent of infants, 19 percent of toddlers ages 1 to 3, and 28 percent of children ages 4 to 7 were unrestrained.
  Children exposed to deployed air bags are twice as likely to suffer significant injury than children not exposed.
  From 1994 through 2003, 3,942 children ages 4 through 7 were killed while riding in motor vehicles. Over 87 percent who died were unrestrained or in an adult seat belt.
  Eight out of 10 child safety seats are not properly installed, putting children at increased risk of
  serious injury or even death.To be protected, children must be properly restrained in seats appropriate for
  their age, height, and weight.
  
• Effective actions to save the lives of youngsters:
  Children under age 13 should sit in a rear seat, if one is available.
  Place a child in the rear seat; this reduces the risk of injury by 33 percent.
  Use a booster seat and seat belt rather than just a seat belt alone for a 4-to-8 year old; this will reduce a child's risk of injury by 59 percent.
  Make sure you use the right restraint for your child and install it correctly.
  Infants, until they are at least 20 lbs. and at least 1 year old, should be in a rear-facing child safety seat.
  Toddlers, until they are about 40 lbs. or age 4, should be in a child safety seat facing forward.
  Children, until they are about 80 lbs or age 8, should be in booster seats.
  All children should use seat belts after they outgrow booster seats.
  

Contact our Grand Rapid Accident Lawyers if you have ever experienced a personal injury and think others are at fault for the accident.

	Did You Know?
	Almost half of all traffic deaths involve alcohol Forty percent of the persons who were killed in traffic crashes in 2000 died in alcohol-related crashes. Ten percent of the injured persons received their injuries in alcohol-related crashes.