Most parents know that a child safety seat in the back seat is the only safe place for babies and toddlers when they get in the car. But as kids grow, the rules about where and how they should ride become a little fuzzier — and sometimes more lax, with tragic results, as older kids venture out with drivers other than Mom or Dad.
As part of an ongoing collaboration between The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm Insurance Companies, researchers looked at information about more than 45,000 crashes from 2000 to 2005 involving 8- to 17-year-old passengers. What they found: 9,807 of kids in that age range were killed, with 12- to 16-year-old passengers more likely to die in crashes than younger kids.
Of the children who died, more than half were riding in a car with a driver younger than 20, almost two-thirds were unrestrained, and more than 20% of the fatalities involved alcohol. Plus, more than three-quarters of the accidents happened on roads with speed limits of more than 45 miles per hour.
What This Means to You
Whether they're in your car, spending some time with an older sibling who drives, going on a trip with Grandma, or carpooling to soccer practice with their best buds, the two best ways to keep kids of any age safe on the road are to:
- Make sure all kids 12 and under ride in the back seat (in an age- and size-appropriate seat and properly restrained) every time. Riding in the back seat, ideally in the middle of the back seat, protects kids from possible injuries and even deaths that can happen when a passenger-side air bag deploys. Whenever they want to sit up front like big kids, explain that air bags can seriously hurt small children because they're designed to protect people with much bigger bodies.
- Make sure kids are always strapped in how and where they should be for their age and size:
- in a rear-facing car seat for babies until they're 1 year old and at least 20 pounds. It's best to try to keep your baby in a rear-facing seat as long as possible, but make sure to follow the height and weight guidelines outlined in your seat's manual. Convertible seats can face toward the rear until your baby is 20 to 35 pounds and at least 1 year old and can be turned to face forward after that. However, many of the convertible seats on the market allow a child to remain rear-facing up to 30 to 35 pounds.
- a forward-facing seat — either an infant seat designed for larger babies or a convertible seat that can accommodate bigger babies, as well as toddlers and young preschoolers.
- a booster or combination child seat for preschoolers and school-age kids. A belt-positioning booster seat sits on the car's seat and elevates your child so that the vehicle's lap and shoulder belt fit better, whereas a combination child seat is like a regular child safety seat, usually with a built-in five-point harness that ensures added safety. But nearly all combination seats with harnesses require that the harnesses be removed once a child is about 40 pounds. Only a few seats are equipped to hold children up to 65 to 80 pounds in a five-point harness.
- a seat belt for older, bigger kids. Children can eventually use a seat belt once they're able to sit back against the vehicle's seat with their knees bent over the edge of the seat without slouching. This usually happens when a child reaches a height of 4 feet 9 inches.
When you head out onto the road with kids of any age in tow, here are some other tips to consider as they grow:
- Read the owner's manual for both your car and your child safety seat before you buy or install a seat. Find out how your child safety seat works with your car's seat belts or LATCH system (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children). LATCH is now standard in most new cars and makes installation easier because it doesn't require use of the car's seat belts.
- Have your child safety seats inspected by a certified child passenger safety technician once you've installed them. To find an inspection station near you, call your local health department, public safety groups, hospitals, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, or area car dealerships.
- Check the tightness of all child safety seats literally before each use — they can shift around as you drive and as your kids wiggle.
- Keep your child in a booster or combination seat as long as possible (preferably one that can hold kids in a five-point harness beyond 40 pounds). Many states have passed laws requiring child safety seats for children up to 8 years old and 80 pounds, or 4 feet 9 inches tall.
- If your child is using a belt-positioning booster seat or is big enough to use just a seat belt, always make sure they're buckled in correctly:
- The lap belt should be low and tight across the hips.
- The shoulder belt should lie flat and snug across the shoulder and stay clear of the neck or face.
- The shoulder and lap belts should be always lie flat — never twisted.
- Never let kids put the shoulder strap of the seat belt behind their backs or under their arms.
- Never buckle two children (or an adult and a child) under one seat belt — a crash could cause their heads to collide.
And, as the researchers point out in this latest study, it's never a good idea to let your kids ride with a teen who's had less than a year of driving experience. If your teen (or someone else's) will be transporting your kids, make sure they know to nix cell phone use while driving, follow the speed limit, keep music low and distractions to a minimum, and make sure everyone's always buckled up.
You aren't always going to be the one shuttling your kids around from place to place. Talk to every driver taking your kids' lives in their hands to ensure your children's safety wherever they go — no matter who they're with. And, once they're able to speak for themselves, make sure your kids know never to ride with someone who's been drinking and that it's never rude or "uncool" to insist that they be strapped in the right way when they're in someone else's car, just as they would be in your own.
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: March 2008
Source: "Risk Factors for Death Among Older Child and Teenaged Motor Vehicle Passengers," Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, March 2008.
