Being a busy parent means mastering the art of compromise. One area you never want to compromise, though, is the safety of your children. The main thing is to take care of the basics each and every trip so you can be confident your children will be protected in a crash.
Hundreds of children 12 and younger die in passenger vehicle crashes every year, and tens of thousands are injured. Parents can reduce the risk by properly securing their children in the back seat.
These are key:
- Seat children younger than 13 years old in the back.
- Use appropriate restraints for your child’s age and size.
- Read instruction manuals for the child restraint and vehicle.
- Pick a vehicle with top crash test ratings.
- Never leave children alone in or around vehicles.
Proper restraint use can reduce crash deaths and injuries even more. Appropriate child safety seats provide significantly more protection in a crash than safety belts alone.
Choose the right restraint for your child’s age and size, and always seat kids in the rear.
- All infants and toddlers should ride rear-facing until they are 2 years old or until they reach the height and weight limit of their child restraints.
- Once they outgrow rear-facing restraints, children should ride in a harness-equipped forward-facing child restraint for as long as possible, up to the height and weight limit of the child restraint. Top tethers should be used whenever a child restraint is installed forward-facing.
- When children outgrow child restraints, they should use belt-positioning booster seats until adult safety belts fit properly.
How to find the right car seat
- Find a car seat that fits your child. As children grow, how they sit in your car will change. Make sure the car seat you purchase is designed to fit your child’s current size and age.
- Make sure that the car seat is the right fit for your vehicle. Not all car seats fit in all vehicles. Test the car seat you plan to buy to make sure it fits well in your vehicle.
- Buy a car seat that can be installed and used correctly every time.