Won’t You Take the Safety Pledge?
You may or may not be aware but last week was Child Passenger Safety Week- a program to remind us all of the importance of properly installed and sized car seats. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has also partnered with the creators of Chuggington to further spread the message of safety for children in and around cars.
The Chuggington website, designed for kids aged 2 to 7, has many interactive features including cartoon like characters, videos, pages to color and other activities to help teach kids about this critical safety topic. Remember that motor vehicle collisions continue to be the leading cause of death in children. Anything that helps to increase safety and awareness will ultimately benefit us all.
Among the various activities, participants may ‘take the safety pledge’ to remind them they are committed to their own safety. And now that I have taken the pledge, I can proudly display my downloaded safety badge and certificate.
One last thought…it’s never too late to check the installation and sizing of your child’s car seat. For more information and resources please visit NHTSA’s car seat information site
Overweight Children are NOT Adequately Protected in Car Seats
For the past ten years, the news media has consistently focused our attention on the fact that obesity is on the rise; that it has become a major problem in 
the United States, and that childhood obesity, in particular, has put young children at-risk for a multitude of health-related issues.
One surprising health-related issue stems from the fact that many infants and toddlers are being transported in car seats that are not safe for them to be riding in, and I am not referring to the improper installation of those seats. The problem I AM referring to is the fact that when car seats are crash-tested, the crash-dummies that are used to simulate the effects of an accident impact do not reflect the overweight child population being transported.
With so many young obese children today, common sense should dictate that the crash-dummy’s weight and dimensions more closely match that of the children using the car seats being tested.
In an article on the ThirdAge.Com website, March 29, 2011, under Boomer Health and Lifestyle, Katherine Rausch highlights a problem that although acknowledged for some time, has been awaiting a solution since 2004, but researchers have not come up with a product. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration is using smaller adult version dummies for child crash-testing. Why? According to a recent article in the Washington Post, it’s because crash test dummies are expensive to develop and funding is not readily available to develop larger “life-like” child test dummies. This leaves child safety seat manufacturers self-regulating their own products. It also means that seats made just a few years ago to hold 65lb children are now marketed for those up to 85lbs.
It appears that heavier-weight crash-dummies have been in development for adults for decades now. Why haven’t overweight children been given the same attention?
With so many recent news reports about the American Academy of Pediatrics’ and NHTSA’s “new safety seat guidelines”, are we deluding ourselves into thinking our kids are safe?
JUST RELEASED: New Child Seat Safety Guidelines!
This morning, both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued new recommendations for child seats.
The new guidelines advise parents to…
- Keep toddlers in rear-facing car seats until they reach two years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer.
- Most children will need to remain in a booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years old. The booster seat’s shoulder belt should lie across the middle of the chest and shoulder, not near the neck or face. The lap belt should fit low and snug on the hips and upper thighs, not across the belly.
- Children should ride in the rear of a vehicle until they reach 13 years old
According to Dennis Durbin, MD, FAAP, lead author of the AAP policy statement, the new guidelines are based on the latest scientific and medical research which indicate that: “A rear-facing child safety seat does a better job of supporting the head, neck and spine of and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body…For larger children, a forward-facing seat with a harness is safer than a booster, and a belt-positioning booster seat provides better protection than a seat belt alone until the seat belt fits correctly.”
Why change now?
According to NHTSA Administrator David Strickland, “while all car seats sold in the U.S. must meet federal child restraint safety standards, selecting the right seat was a challenge for many parents”. The “room for interpretation” in the 2002 guidelines plus the huge variety of car safety seats on the market often left parents with more questions than answers. The result: children were transitioning from one stage of car safety seat to the next, far too early to be truly considered “safe”.
New research findings, however are clear. Children under age 2 are safer in rear-facing car seats. Children under age 2 are 75% less likely to die or be severely injured in a crash if they are rear-facing. The hope of both NHTSA and the AAP is that issuing these new requirements will simplify the selection process and make it easier for parents to choose the “best” car seat for their child.
For more information:
- For guidance from the AAP to help parents choose the most appropriate car safety seat for their child, click here
- For a detailed list of car safety seats, including the height and weight limitations for each, click here
- For state-specific child passenger safety laws, click here
- For a copy of the NHTSA ”Car Seat Recommendations for Children” poster (above), click here
Be Ready, Be Buckled: Create Lifetime Seatbelt Wearers
In past articles I have written about various programs sponsored by the federal government that help to promote safety in kids. My most recent 
post was about distracted driving. For this post I have found a new program and site that I think is perfect to highlight and to showcase on this blog.
The program is called “Be Ready, Be Buckled”. Among its sponsors are the DOT, the National Highway Traffic safety administration and others. One aspect of the program is to encourage kids, K through 6th grade or age 5-12 to submit original artwork which focuses on the theme and supports the use of seat belts.
Some suggested questions or discussions to help inspire young artists include:
- Why is it important to buckle up every time while driving or riding in a bus, truck or car?
- How does the motto Safety Belts Save lives apply to bus and truck drivers as well as Kids and families.
- What would happen if a truck or bus driver did not buckle up on the job?
Two grand prize winners will be selected by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). The top 12 will complete the 2011 calendar. The picture at the top of this post is last year’s winner.
Even if your child does not win they and the family will share a bonding experience over safety and will hopefully create lifetime seatbelt wearers and champions. Please feel free to submit a copy of your child’s artwork here: info@pediatricsafety.net - we would love to post it on Pediatric Safety and to help encourage everyone to buckle up. For more official information and for the contest entry form please go to:
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/safety-security/2011-ArtContest.pdf
Child Passenger Safety is a 24/7/365 Job
For one week, Child Passenger Safety was on everyone’s mind! The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Ad Council combined to make an all-out effort to get the message out: parents and other caregivers need to make the right choices regarding child safety car seats…and resources are available…help is available.
But one week is not enough time to get the message out to all who need to hear it. Child passenger safety, when it comes to choosing the right car seat, installing it properly, and making sure it that it is appropriately latched, is an issue that requires addressing 24 hours a day/ 7days a week/ 365 days a year.
To that end, the message has to continue. Everyone you know who transports young children needs to know that free help is available for the purpose of making sure that they are choosing safe car seats and using them properly.
On Twitter: Any child passenger safety questions will be answered by an actual safety expert. Go to the @ChildSeatSafety account on Twitter.
On Facebook: The page at http://facebook.com/childpassengersafety is the place for parents to learn about the LATCH program, location of inspection offices, and any other up-to-date information from NHTSA.
On the Website: Created by the Ad Council, in conjunction with NHTSA, http://childcarsafety.adcouncil.org/ is a website for parents to go to in order to be able to view instructional videos, locate inspection stations, and take a fun quiz to make sure you have the correct information regarding child passenger safety.
The more caregivers who become aware of, and utilize this information, the more childrens’ lives we save.
