How 4- to 8-year-olds can be so widely overlooked, it’s hard to imagine. But a new report by the National Safe Kids Campaign, a private child-advocacy group, says about 20 million children throughout the country are indeed ignored every time they get into an automobile.
The report evaluated the 50 state laws for child-safety restraints. Only one state, California, received an “A.” Twenty-four states flunked based on safety criteria, including Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan.
Some states actually allow children to ride unrestrained in back seats of vehicles beginning at age 4 (car seats generally are mandatory until that age). Other states, including Illinois, require that kids 4 and older (usually until age 6 or 8) be secured in the back seat by either a child-restraint system or safety belt.
The laws are simply not strict enough, said Gretchen Wendt, coordinator of the Center for Childhood Safety at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. A typical lap and shoulder belt just doesn’t properly fit younger children.
“It’s a big deficiency,” she said. “The basic guideline we use is between 4 to 8 years old, 40 to 80 pounds, parents need to be using a booster seat.”
A booster seat is the next step up from a child safety seat. It allows a child to be raised high enough to have the lap and shoulder belt fit snugly in all of the right places–the lap belt low across the hip bones and the shoulder belt hitting across the sternum and across the collarbone. Surveys indicate that 30 percent of U.S. 4- to 8-year-olds ride unbuckled. Fewer than 7 percent are secured in a booster seat.
The rest are using the car’s safety belt. When a smaller child is strapped into a standard safety belt, the lap belt will ride high on the waist, Wendt explained. The shoulder belt tends to cut high near the child’s neck, so frequently the child slips the belt behind the neck for comfort.
If there is a crash, the child’s entire weight is thrown against the lap belt, putting the internal organs around the abdomen (there are plenty of them) at risk. The lack of shoulder-belt restraint can cause major head, neck and spinal injuries.
A tougher state law would help address the problem. But the bigger issue is converting the 93 percent of families who don’t see any need for booster seats.
“It’s frustrating,” said Tim Kalter, coordinator of Lake County’s Traffic Safety Task Force. “I see so many children who are injured or killed because they are not properly restrained.”
The number is estimated to be in the thousands annually, including about 500 deaths of kids aged 4 through 8. Researchers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration speculate that about three-quarters of all injuries and deaths would be avoided if these young children were properly fitted for booster seats.
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“We focus so much on newborns,” said Kalter, whose office makes available free shopping guides for booster seats and other child-safety restraint systems (call 847-543-2827). “A new state law would be a positive move, but I tell parents to make booster seats mandatory in their families no matter what.”
There are some challenges. For one, Kalter said, he recognizes that some parents aren’t eager to spend the extra money on booster seats. Older siblings or friends can make a child feel self-conscious about still sitting in some sort of car seat–or even in the back seat, which is where many experts say kids should stay until at least age 12. Plus, some parents still don’t wear safety belts themselves (3 out of every 10 adults are holdouts).
Even if parents are motivated, Wendt and Kalter said, not every booster seat fits correctly into every make of car. It can get quite confusing.
Internet sites can help parents navigate the learning curve: Try www.nhtsa.dot.gov (the federal government’s site); www.boostamerica.org (sponsored by Ford); www.fitforakid.org (sponsored by DaimlerChrysler, which offers free evaluations in every service center); www.parentingplace.com and www.carseat.org.
When shopping at a store, ask if there is a staff person who has been trained in car seat safety. Many local hospitals and fire and police departments offer periodic clinics or free advice (call ahead). Once you buy a booster seat, take it to such authorities to make sure you know how to use it properly.
Then there is the not-so-small matter of persuading children to use booster seats and still feel like a big kid. One selling point is the booster seats give kids a better view out the windows.
“I suggest talking in simple terms,” Kalter said. “Don’t go into some huge explanation about centrifugal force or scare them too much. Tell children you care about them, and they could get easily hurt without the booster seats. Most of all, parents need to be more disciplined about it.”
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