An article in the 2/11/14 New York Times noted that "In 2011, 33 percent of children who died in car accidents were not buckled in." Also, twenty-percent of children under age one who died in car accidents were not buckled in and in proper car seats. The age and weight of a child should determine what kind of car seat or seat belt is required. There are several places parents can check to be sure they are using the proper car seats and restraints for their children. The National Auto Safety Hotline can be called at 1-800-424-9393. There is also a Web site at www.nhtsa.dot.gov that can be viewed. No child should ever die or be injured in a car accident because parents or caretakers or grandparents did not have the proper car seats and restraints.
If the proper restraints are used, a child has twenty-eight percent less chance to be killed in an auto accident. "Infants should be kept in a rear-facing car seat until they are twenty pounds and one year of age." Booster seats should be used with proper seat belts or restraints until a child is four feet-nine inches tall.
I hope that family doctors and pediatricians still ask about car seats, as I did when I was in general pediatric practice. I can remember a young, new mother with newborn twins that I saw as the last patients in the morning. I carried one twin to the car and was horrified to find no proper infant carriers. We cared for the babies until the mother came back with two infant car carriers. The father was in the military and the mother had little money and no real support.
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