The month of September is National Baby Safety Month and AAA is reminding motorists of the importance of car seat and passenger restraint. A recent analysis from the organization which looked back at five years of crash data from the US Department of Transportation, shows a lack of proper child restraint use for children injured or killed in car crashes.
“AAA’s in-depth analysis of crash data has brought to light safety issues that concern us, and we’re in a position to help by sharing our expert resources about car seat safety use factors such as proper seat installation, type of seat and mode of use at each stage of child growth,” said William Hasse, Vice President of Marketing, Chicco USA.
The analysis shows almost half of children (48%) who are aged 10 years and younger who were injured and 51% who were killed in crashes were either using a vehicle’s seatbelt prematurely or had no restraint instead of a car seat.
From 2017 to 2021, over 3.9 million children ages 10 and younger were involved in a car crash, with 527,000 injured and 2,789 being killed.
When infant seats, boosters and seat belts are used properly, they will protect children from injuries. AAA says child restraints reduce fatalities by 71% for infants younger than 1 year old and by 54% for those between the ages of 1 and 4 in passenger cars.
AAA has teamed up with Chicco USA to highlight the importance of car seat use, providing tips and resources to parents on keeping their children safe while on the road.
“Traffic safety is central to AAA’s mission and the data show the importance of understanding what type of child restraint to use and when,” commented AAA Spokesperson Aixa Diaz. “We’re pleased to collaborate with Chicco to help deliver critical information about car seat use to parents and other caregivers.”
Tips to follow include: Not skipping the booster phase, children should always use a restraint when riding in vehicles, and utilizing available resources such as car seat guidelines, installation tutorials, and car seat checks.
