http://efootage.com/clip_list.php?sr=&sort=9&list_id=&master_id=&clip_id=26154&cart_id=&cat_id=69&license_id=&query=

And if this PDF does not get your attention nothing will see:

http://www.autosafety.org/uploads/phpeicxiR_ChildDeath.pdf

NEVER place a child seat in front of an airbag.

Children at risk
One of the first certified child seat technicians in the United States, Delaney, who is the coordinator of the child safety program at Children’s Hospital in Detroit, no longer takes for granted children’s safety in cars. And she advises you not to, either.

Motor vehicle crashes are the single largest cause of child fatalities in the country, responsible for more than 1,800 deaths of youngsters age 14 and under each year, according to the jational Safe Kids Campaign. The Washington D.C.-based child safety advocacy group estimates another 280,000-plus children are injured each year while riding in vehicles.

Yet, safety tests show the risk of injury or death for a child can be reduced as much as 70 percent if an unrestrained child is put into a child safety seat.

Problems with child seat use
Parents may “feel that by buying a child seat and putting it in a car that their child is safe,” said Lori Miller, highway safety specialist at the jational Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington, D.C.

But there’s a lot more to it than that…

A federal government study reported 80 percent of child safety seats are not used properly. jational Safe Kids, which checked more than 17,000 child safety seats at nationwide checkups in 1997 and 1998, said it found the figure to be closer to 85 percent.

Common child seat mistakes
A government study found the biggest problem with child seats was improper use of locking clips. Follow instructions that come with the child seat, as well as those that come with your vehicle, to see if you need to use the clips and that you’re using them correctly.

NHTSA also found that more than half of child seats had harness retainer clips that weren’t used correctly. Again, follow instructions that accompany the child seat. In general, harness retainer clips should be placed at the level of your child’s armpits, according to jational Safe Kids.

More mistakes
Ranking third in the NHTSA study of problems was use of harness straps. They should not be loose. According to jational Safe Kids, you shouldn’t be able to fit more than one of your fingers between a harness strap and your child’s collarbone.

In addition, the harness straps should not be twisted. And make sure they’re routed correctly through the proper slots on the seat.

Another problem cited by NHTSA was use of the vehicle safety belts. The owner’s manual for your vehicle details proper seat belt use. Be sure the belt used with the child seat is firmly locked in its connection, routed correctly with the child seat and holds the seat firmly in place. You should not be able to wiggle the child seat from side to side or pull it forward.

Further down in the list of problems, but still accounting for ten percent of the child seat mistakes reported by NHTSA is positioning of a child seat in the wrong direction inside the car. Rear-facing child seats should only be positioned to face rearward; forward-facing seats should only face forward.

In addition, jational Safe Kids notes you should be sure to keep a rear-facing child seat reclined at a 45-degree angle, so it cradles the baby’s head.

Consequences of improper child seat use
Some child seat mistakes clearly are dangerous—for example, positioning a child seat the wrong way inside a car or putting a child seat of any sort in front of an active frontal airbag.

But studies haven’t yet pinpointed how dangerous some of the other child seat misuses are, things like not using a locking clip correctly or not having the child seat secured as tightly as it could be with the vehicle safety belt.

“The seats are misused in some way, but we don’t have very good data on which one of these [problems] will kill a child, or which will injure a child [during a crash],” said Angela Mickalide, program director at jational Safe Kids.

“We don’t know, as a society, which of these problems will be life-threatening, so it’s important [that parents learn proper child seat use].”

Lots to learn
It’s not that parents and caregivers aren’t paying attention or don’t care. They’re dealing with more complicated child seats today. Many child seats have recalls, too, that often can go unnoticed by child seat owners. One source for recall and other child seat information is the Internet; many private organizations as well as government agencies have Web pages to help parents wade through the daunting amount of data in circulation.

Below are a few of the important Internet sites dedicated to promoting child safety in automobiles via child seats. Packed with press releases, recalls, safety news and more, these sites are great places to begin gathering information about providing the children in your charge with the safest ride possible.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics
http://www.aap.org/family/mncrseat.htm
An informative site, complete with a one-minute child seat checkup, a buyer’s guide, and the latest AAP policy statements concerning safety seats.

Britax Child Safety, Inc.
http://www.childseat.com/
Britax is one of the biggest names in child seats, with nearly 20 percent of the world’s child seat sales. The site includes a list of car seat “do’s and don’ts,” tips for securing children, what fits your child, and frequently asked questions about child seats.

jational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/childps/
This site includes links to the new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for child seats, a form for reporting problems with a safety seat, a list of safety training programs, and even a state-by state list of individuals who have attended the programs and may be of help.

jational SAFE KIDS Campaign
http://www.safekids.org
The jational SAFE KIDS Campaign is the first and only national organization dedicated to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury—the number-one killer of children ages 14 and under. The site is the home of the SAFE KIDS BUCKLE UP, a national campaign to increase awareness about child seat safety. This site is updated frequently and includes a calendar of Car Seat Check Up events around the U.S.

jational Safety Council
http://www.nsc.org
This site contains a wealth of information on child seats, child safety, and safety in general. In May 1999 the America Buckles Up Children campaign was launched, and June was jational Safety Month.

ParentingPlace.com
http://www.parentingplace.com/_private/CarSafety/Carsafety.htm
This parenting site contains a section on car safety, including news items, discussion groups, questions and answers, a listing of safety checks and events, and sections about various child seats, with photos. There are also links to other sites, as well as information on child seat recalls.

Safe Ride Helpline Online
http://www.carseat.org/
The online site of SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A., a nonprofit organization dedicated to child safety. The site includes recalls (including ways to identify your seat, with photos), classes, technical information on seats, frequently asked questions, and links to other sites.

Safe Ride News
http://www.saferidenews.com
With a tagline of “Information for Parents, Safety Advocates, and Health Professionals,” Safe Ride News contains a broad range of information, from selecting child seats to choosing the “perfect” car (safety-wise, that is). There are also technical bulletins, child seat recalls and hospital issues.

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The vehicles in which the seats are installed aren’t standardized, either. Some have flat seat cushions, for example, that help make a child seat stable while others have contoured bucket seats that make child seat stability more difficult. Where the seat belt connectors are in a vehicle can help or hinder proper child seat positioning.

In fact, the federal government’s own child seat certification program—the one Delaney attended—takes four days to go over all the issues and provide time for hands-on learning.

Mickalide noted that her group, which conducts child safety seat checkups nationwide through a joint program with General Motors Corp. dealerships, tries to educate vehicle owners about the importance of proper child seat use “while not overwhelming them and making them feel like they can’t do it right.”

Safety falls off as children age
Efforts by Delaney and other child safety advocates seem to be working to get the nation’s youngest children into child seats. But statistics show that use of proper restraints declines as a child ages. And you’d be surprised to learn how few laws govern auto safety for children once they leave child safety seats—or how much the laws vary from state to state

According to a NHTSA phone survey of U.S. parents, 96 percent of newborns travel in child seats all the time, but by age 3, the figure is down to 75 percent. By age 5, just 17 percent of children are in child seats all the time, the survey indicated.

Still, child seats—be they for newborns, toddlers or older children—continue to be the most effective way to protect a child in a vehicle crash. And it almost goes without saying that once a youngster is out of child seats, he or she should always wear seat belts and sit in the back seat, where it is much safer.

“One of the main problems is keeping kids buckled up as they get older,” said Deborah Stewart, a longtime child safety advocate and publisher of Safe Ride News, a Seattle area-based publication that helps educate police officers, nurses and others who work on child safety issues.

Be aware of recalls
Mickalide said, “it’s a good idea for parents to check with NHTSA about child seat recalls,” because the rate of recalls “is very high.”

She attributed it to “the testing cycle,” which allows child seat manufacturers to self-certify each seat they make and begin to sell it. Later, the government tests the seat and may find part of it doesn’t perform as required.

The NHTSA Web site lists recalls dating back to 1990, many of them on child seats built in the 1980s.

Register your child seat
Note that manufacturers of child seats provide a registration form with their child seats built as of March 1993.

By completing and returning the form, typically soon after purchase, a buyer provides contact information for the manufacturer to use in the event of a recall. Manufacturers also have agreed to maintain names and addresses of child seat purchasers that they had in their files from before March 1993.

Other ways to stay in touch
In case you missed out on those registration opportunities, NHTSA’s Web site also provides a child seat safety registration form you can fill out and submit to NHTSA that allows the agency to provide your contact information to the seat manufacturer.

There could be a hiccup, though, if the seat manufacturer has gone out of business. Reading down the list of NHTSA child seat recalls, for example, FBS Inc., maker of Renoflux seats, no longer operates as a child seat manufacturer.

NHTSA maintains a toll-free number for further questions. 1-800-424-9393.

And don’t hesitate to inform NHTSA if you have noticed a problem with your child seats. The Web site includes a child seat questionnaire form where you can report defects.

Improvements sought
Federal regulators and automakers are looking at ways to make child seat use easier. NHTSA announced in 1999 that new cars and light trucks must have anchors for new child seats by 2002.

The devices will have three attachments, one at the top for a so-called tether strap that will help prevent child seats from tipping forward in a crash and two others at the base to provide a more secure and firm seat placement.

Several new-model cars already are adding anchors in the back seats for child seat top-tether straps.

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DID YOU KNOW?

In 1998, more than 282,000 children ages 14 and under were injured as occupants in motor vehicle-related crashes. Children ages 4 and under accounted for nearly 30 percent of these childhood motor vehicle occupant injuries.
Seventy-five percent of motor vehicle crashes occur within 25 miles of home. In addition, 60 percent of crashes occur on roads with posted speed limits of 40 mph or less.
The back seat is the safest place for children to ride. It is estimated that children ages 12 and under are 36 percent less likely to die in a crash if seated in the rear seat of a passenger vehicle.