I watch my nephew carry his twin baby girls into my home for a visit, struck by how small they look. Tiny nine-pound bodies that just two months ago weighed only six. He walks with one car seat in each arm, handling them with ease and pride. The elaborate three-point belts are snug and secure over each tiny shoulder and waist. I watch as the straps are carefully loosened, and each precious daughter is removed from their cocoon of safety.
Motor vehicle crashes are one of the most common causes of injury and death for young children in the United States. In 2021, car crashes killed 1,129 children aged twelve and younger, and were responsible for more than 63,000 injuries. Of those killed, 266 were not properly secured in car seats. Tragically, the rate of children being killed has increased in recent years, rising by 8% between 2020 and 2021. Many of these injuries and deaths could have been avoided by properly choosing, installing, and utilizing child safety seats.
The right seat for the right child
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines three primary types of car seats, each designed for children of different ages, heights, and weights. It is vitally important that your child has the right type of car seat. Using one that is ill-fitting, too lose, or improperly installed can increase their risk of serious injury in the event of a crash.
- Rear-facing car seat
The rear-facing car seat is the best option for very young children. It cradles the head and neck, providing full support for the spine. During most crashes, the primary force shoves the child toward the front of the vehicle. A rear-facing seat catches the head and neck and absorbs that forward force. This is especially important for young children, whose heads are proportionally large and heavy and whose neck muscles are not fully developed.
Rear-facing seats are safer in almost all circumstances, and your child should remain in this type of seat until they reach the upper limit of the manufacturer’s recommendations on weight and size – usually up to 50 pounds.
- Forward-facing car seat
Once your child ages out of a rear-facing car seat, they graduate to a forward-facing seat. This is a crucial middle step before they are ready to deal with a standard seat belt. A forward-facing seat provides additional support and comfort, but its most important feature is the harness. Rather than the standard three-point harness of a regular seat belt, most forward-facing car seats utilize five or more points of contact. Most also bring the points of their harness together into a central “plate” that sits in front of the child’s chest or stomach and further disperses the force in the event of a crash.
- Booster seats
By the time your child is seven or eight, they will probably be ready for a booster seat. By this time, the child is able to use and benefit from the standard safety features of the car, such as seatbelts and airbags. The booster seat is designed to make sure that the car’s own safety features work “correctly,” catching the right parts of the body and distributing the force of a crash as they are designed.
Modern cars are far safer than their older counterparts, but new features can actually be counterproductive if a child is sitting too low in the seat or subjected to unexpected forces. Often it is tempting to allow these older children to go without a booster, but most kids are not ready to sit in the normal seat of a car until they are at least eleven or twelve.
In general, you should always wait as long as possible before bumping your child up to the next tier of car seat.
Using your car seat the right way
A 2015 study estimated that 46% of all car seats are being used incorrectly. When you exclude booster seats used for older children, that number increases to 59%. The most common errors when installing a seat and securing a child include:
- Loose connections between the seat and vehicle
- Loose harnesses around the child, and
- Improper lap or shoulder belt position for booster seats
If a child is not properly secured in their seat, or the seat is not properly secured to the vehicle, the child may actually be in more danger than if they had no seat at all. Children have been seriously injured when their car seat broke loose from its moorings during a crash, or when a limb was twisted in an improperly secured harness.
It is also very important to discard a car seat that has been in a crash. Even if there is no obvious damage, the seat’s plastic or internal structure may have been compromised. A car seat may appear completely normal to the naked eye but fail when involved in a second crash. After a crash, make sure you fully dismantle a car seat before disposing of it, to make sure it is not reclaimed or repurposed by an unsuspecting parent.
National data car seat check form
Improving child safety requires collecting vast amounts of accurate data that scientists and engineers can rely on. In recognition of this, the National Safety Council, in partnership with the NHTSA, has developed the National Digital Car Seat Check Form. This form is designed to collect, compile, and standardize child safety seat information.
The information gathered creates a widely accessible database that assists with developing car seat safety programs, designing new and safer car seat models, and developing metrics for optimal use of different car seat designs at different ages and weights.
Important car seat legislation
In Virginia, car seat use is governed by Va Code §46.2-1095, which mandates car seats for all children aged seven and younger. The law also requires that all children be in a rear-facing car seat until at least the age of two, and that all child safety seats be placed in a back seat. The law applies to anyone transporting a child for any distance on public roadways. Virginia also provides assistance programs for low-income families that may have difficulty affording a car seat. Contact the Division of Injury and Violence Prevention at the Virginia Department of Health to learn more.
Although the seats my nephew carries may look remarkably like the ones my own children rode in over twenty years ago, there have been substantial changes. Many seats have improved features such as energy-absorbing foam, side impact protection, and adjustable headrests. There is a wider range of sizes allowing for extended rear-facing time for infants which improves safety. The LATCH system makes installation more secure. Some models have smart features that alert parents when the seat is installed incorrectly, the child is not buckled, or the child has outgrown the seat.
Despite these many advancements, children and infants continue to suffer from a tragically high, and sadly avoidable, rate of injury and death in car crashes. But proper planning and attention to safety can reverse this trend. If you or someone you know has had a child injured in a motor vehicle collision through no fault of their own, contact the car accident attorneys at Allen & Allen today, at 866-388-1307.
