Driving and Child Passenger Safety

by Mark Lorenzana

When driving with children, especially while going on long trips, it is important to take into account the safety of your passengers. Making sure that your car has seatbelts and airbags is not enough. Depending on your country and location, there are special local laws and legislation in place to ensure that child passengers traveling in cars enjoy the utmost safety on the road.

With this in mind, here are some general car seat safety tips for children:

1. Children under 12 years of age do not belong in the front seat, which is the most dangerous place in a car. Put children in the back seat, especially if your car has passenger side air bags.
2. In the case of infants they should be placed in a rear-facing infant seat until they are one year old and at least 20 pounds in weight. Children who reach 20 pounds before their first birthday still need to use a rear-facing seat.
3. After children reach 20 pounds and have passed their first birthday, they can now use a forward facing car seat until they are about 40 pounds.
4. A belt positioning booster seat should be used for children over 40 pounds.
5. A car’s regular seat belt should not be used on a child until they fit correctly. The minimum weight and height for a child to be able to use a seatbelt is about 80 pounds and 4 feet and 9 inches tall.
6. A child is not ready to use regular seat belts until the shoulder strap fits across his/her shoulder and not his neck. Also, the lap belt should fit across the child’s hips and not his/her stomach.
7. Be sure to read the car seat manufacturer’s instructions and your car owner's manual to ensure the correct installation and usage of the car seat.

There has been great progress achieved in recent years in preventing child occupant deaths and injuries, especially in increasing the correct use of child safety seats, booster seats and safety belts. However, more work needs to be done to protect child occupants who remain at heightened risk.

There is no denying the costs involved, because child seats and other safety accessories for children do not come cheap. But it's an expense a growing number of people are willing to bear. Every part of a car is replaceable unlike the people inside so keeping the kids safe and secure is invariably a price well worth paying.