Thinks

Car and Booster Seat Safety
by Kyle McCarthy

* Reprinted with approval from Family Travel Forum - www.familytravelforum.com

When Child Passenger Safety Week rolled around in February 2002, in addition to multilingual programs to encourage carseat use, special attention was given to booster seats. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.NHTSA.org), fewer than 10% of children ages 4-8 years (about 40-80 lbs.) use booster seats on a regular basis. "Motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for children age 4-14 years old in 2000," announced NHTSA head Dr. Jeffrey W. Runge, estimating that 20% of the victims were in the 4 to 8-year- old range of typical booster seat users. Dr. Runge stressed that children who have outgrown child safety seats should use booster seats until they are at least 8 years or 57" tall. "Premature use of adult seat belts by children can result in serious abdominal and other injuries," he added, because standard belts do not ride low on the hips of a child who slides forward, or fit snugly across a short child's chest. Since most states' child restraint laws do not distinguish between adult seat belts and booster seats, 30 organizations including the Ford Motor Company are supporting the Boost America! Campaign (www.boostamerica.org) to educate consumers about booster seat use. There are many products out there, but the Fisher-Price 'Grow With Me' was Consumer Reports 2001 pick for best toddler/booster combo seat and the 2001 Evenflo, Fisher-Price and Britax booster seat models were all rated 'excellent.'

This year, the NHTSA also celebrates the implementation of the new universal LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) system to standardize child safety seat installation in all vehicles manufactured after September 2002. LATCH systems, which make it easier for parents to correctly attach a carseat to anchors built into the back seat rather than with seat belts, will be mandatory on two rear seats of all vehicles, and on convertible carseats and toddler/booster seats. (New carseats will still fit into older model vehicles with seat belts.)

While carseats certified for use by the FAA remain the most effective restraint for children occupying their own airplane seats, neither the LATCH system nor booster seats (backless seats can crumple forward on impact) will provide enhanced safety inflight.