When it comes to auto safety and your child, what's more important: Restraining your child properly or requiring your child to sit in the back seat? According to experts at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, both of these safety precautions work together to reduce a child's risk of injury.
Researchers identified 17,980 children under the age of 16 who'd been involved in 11,506 motor vehicle crashes between December 1998 and November 2002. Parents of the children involved in the crashes answered questions about the severity of the child's injury and the type of restraints used (such as a car seat, booster seat, or seat belt). They also reported whether the child had been sitting in the front seat or rear seat at the time of the accident.
The severity of injuries in children participating in this study varied - about 2% of children had serious injuries and 85% had no injuries at all. At the time of the crash, many children wore restraints - 62% of the children used seat belts and 35% used child restraints like booster seats and car seats. Three percent of the children didn't wear any restraints at all.
Overall, children who sat in the front seat and didn't wear any restraints had the highest risk of injury. In comparison, children who sat in the rear seat and wore the recommended form of restraint for their age and size had the lowest risk of injury. Some other findings:
- Four out of five children were sitting in the rear seat at the time of the injury, but only half of all children wore the right type of restraints for their age and size while in the rear seat.
- Children between 13 and 15 years of age had a greater risk of injury and a greater risk of sitting in the front seat of the vehicle.
- Kids who wore the wrong restraints had nearly twice the risk of injury compared to kids wearing age-appropriate restraints.
- Children between 4 and 8 years of age were most likely to be wearing restraints that weren't appropriate for their age.
Researchers estimate that if all of the children included in the study had worn recommended restraints and sat in the rear seat, 1,014 serious injuries could have been prevented.
What This Means to You: Restraining your child properly and sitting him or her in the back seat offers the best protection against injury during motor vehicle crashes, the authors of this study conclude. What's the right restraint for your child?
- Infants under 1 year old should be placed in rear-facing infant-only seats or convertible child safety seats.
- Children older than a year who weigh up to 40 pounds can be safely restrained in convertible child safety seats.
- Children weighing between 40 and 80 pounds can use belt-positioning booster seats or combination seats that allow the harnesses to be removed.
- Your child is big enough to use the vehicle's lap and shoulder belts when he or she can sit with his or her back against the vehicle's seat back with his or her knees bent over the edge of the seat without slouching (usually when your child reaches a height of 4 feet 9 inches).
Always seat your child in the rear seat. If you have any questions about child restraints, talk to your child's doctor.
Source: Dennis R. Durbin, MD, MSCE; Irene Chen, PhD; Rebecca Smith, MSPH; Michael R. Elliott, PhD; Flaura K. Winston, MD, PhD; Pediatrics, March 2005
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: April 2005
