CPSafety "memo" to share with families with kids of all ages

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Car crashes are the leading cause of death for kids….​

4 OUT OF 5 KIDS ARE RIDING WITH AN AVERAGE OF 3 POTENTIALLY FATAL MISUSE ERRORS!​
  • Parents want to keep their kids safe; we want to know what these common child safety seat mistakes are and how to avoid them! We ask our friends and family, we ask our Pediatricians. Too often we are given life threatening child passenger safety advice because even the doctor has not read the American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on child safety seats, updated March 2002. We’re lucky if state laws reflect even the bare minimum of child passenger safety. Scandinavian & Italian kids rear-face until 50 pounds; German kids use boosters until 12 years old – they have drastically lower rates of death and/or paralysis to these age groups compared to the U.S. Our kids deserve safest practice at all times.

    AAP and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have determined that safest practice means keeping toddlers rear-facing until the maximum limits on the convertible child safety seat. This is based in part on autopsy reports in which forward-facing toddlers are shown to be at a four-fold risk of death before 2 years of age compared to those who are still rear-facing. The larger head to body size ratio combined with less developed spinal ligaments creates a situation in which the spine stretches 2” during a crash when it can only withstand stretching up to ¼”. This is also because about 92% of crashes are to the front & sides of the vehicle, while only about 4% of crashes are to the rear. Prematurely turning babies around before 12 months and (not or) 20 pounds is extremely dangerous! Child safety seats can now rear-face until 30, 33 or 35 pounds.

    AAP and NHTSA urge parents to keep preschoolers harnessed until the maximum limits of the forward-facing child safety seat. 4 years and 40 pounds is the recommended bare minimum for switching children into boosters. It has been a standard in the racing industry for quite some time now that grown adults wear harness style seatbelts. This is because they are proven to be so much safer, especially in side impact collisions and roll-overs. Furthermore, a child must be able to use the booster and vehicle lap/shoulder belt correctly for the entire length of every ride, never leaning out of position and never putting the belt under the arm or behind the back. Forward-facing child safety seats can now fit children up to 55, 65 or even 80 pounds. Boosters can fit up to 100 pounds. Big kids may safely graduate out of boosters only by answering yes to all of these questions: 1. Can you sit all the way back with knees bent? 2. Does the lap belt cross your hips/thighs? 3. Is the shoulder belt on your collar bone? 4. Do your feet rest on the floor? 5. Can you stay this way?

    Remember that the best child safety seat fits the child, fits the vehicle, and will always be used correctly. Differences of weight and height limits depend on the manufacturer and model of the child safety seat. Read your vehicle and child safety seat manuals thoroughly. Always follow the directions. Never use a child safety seat that is older than about 6 years from Date of Manufacture. Put your weight into the child safety seat to make sure it is secure, moving less than 1” at the belt path. Make sure the harness straps are properly positioned below the shoulders when rear-facing or above the shoulders when forward-facing, chest clip even with the armpits. Tighten the harness straps so there is no slack. Refrain from letting your children wear bulky clothing in their child safety seats as it increases the risk of your child being ejected in a crash! Passengers who are ejected are four times as likely to die. Replace child safety seats after a crash.

    Call 1-800-SAFE-KIDS to have your child safety seats checked by your local SafeKids WorldwideTM certified Child Passenger Safety Technician or visit www.freewebs.com/sacredjourneys
Feel free to change the website (I've also used my state's CPSafety page or this forum).... I usually copy this back-to-back with http://www.carseat.org/Resources/635.pdf to hand out with the registration documents -- any detailed suggestions on how to better this is welcomed, but please realize that I must be able to fit all the basics onto 1 side of the page: I have RF flyer from www.cpsafety.org + other booster flyers (from NYS & www.carseat.org + Becky/skaterbabs' article :) as well as stuff from SafeRideNews, NHTSA, CHOP, etc.)
 
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scatterbunny

New member
Great compilation of very important facts! I'd love to copy this and share it with Hayley's class. I think her teacher would send it home with everyone.
 

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