September 12-18: Child Passenger Safety Week...
September 10, 2009
Highlights need to protect youngsters from death or injuries caused by traffic crashes
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among children ages 2 to 14, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. During National Child Passenger Safety Week Sept. 12 to 18, safety experts and law enforcement officers will emphasize to parents, grandparents and other adults responsible for transporting youngsters that proper use of child safety restraints in vehicles can be a matter of life or death.
To prevent children from being ejected from a vehicle or thrown around violently inside it during a crash, Wisconsin law requires the following four-step progression:
- Rear facing child-safety seat in the back seat (if vehicle is equipped with a back seat) when the child:
- Is younger than 1-year-old or
- Weighs less than 20 pounds
- Forward facing child-safety seat in the back seat (if the vehicle is equipped with a back seat) when the child:
- Is at least 1-year-old but younger than 4-years-old and
- Weighs at least 20 pounds but less than 40 pounds
- Booster seat when the child:
- Is at least 4-years-old but younger than 8-years-old or
- Weighs at least 40 pounds but less than 80 pounds or
- Is not 57-inches (4-feet, 9-inches) tall or taller
- Safety belt when the child:
- Is 8-years-old or older or
- Weighs 80 or more pounds or
- Is 57-inches tall or taller
In Wisconsin, approximately 9 out of 10 children under the age of 4 are secured in child safety
seats. However, recent studies also show that about 80 percent of child safety seats are not
installed properly and might fail to fully protect children in crashes.
For more information and answers to questions about child passenger safety, contact the
Wisconsin Information Network for Safety at the following toll-free number: 1-866-511-9467 (WINS).
More information about the proper use of booster seats is available on the Web at:
www.boosterseat.gov.
For more information, contact:
Don Hagen, Transportation Safety Programs
(608) 267-7520,
donald.hagen@dot.wi.gov
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