According to the CDC, Motor vehicle injuries are a leading cause of death among children in the United States. But many of these deaths can be prevented.

  • In the United States, 663 children ages 12 years and younger died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes during 2015, and more than 121,350 were injured in 2014.
  • One CDC study found that, in one year, more than 618,000 children ages 0-12 rode in vehicles without the use of a child safety seat or booster seat or a seat belt at least some of the time.
  • Of the children ages 12 years and younger who died in a crash in 2015 (for which restraint use was known), 35% were not buckled up.

You can help protect children from an injury in an automobile collision by using the correct restraints!

  • Based on strong evidence of effectiveness, the Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends car seat laws and car seat distribution plus education programs to increase restraint use and decrease injuries and deaths to child passengers.
  • Car seat distribution plus education programs are also recommended in a more recent review for increasing restraint use.
  • A study of five states that increased the age requirement to 7 or 8 years for car seat/booster seat use found that the rate of children using car seats and booster seats increased nearly three times and the rate of children who sustained fatal or incapacitating injuries decreased by 17%.

The attorneys with Althauser Rayan Abbarno want to remind you to properly fit your child with a car restraint. If you need assistance, watch this short video to help!