Resources on Early Learning

Tip Sheets

Car accidents are a leading cause of death for young children in the United States. We can prevent many of these deaths and many injuries by following a few simple rules.

Never hold a baby or young child in your lap when riding in a car.

Always use a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) rated car seat. Child safety seats reduce the risk of death in car accidents by 71% for infants and by 54% for toddlers ages 1 to 4 years. The best car seat is the one that fits your child properly, is easy to use, and fits in your vehicle correctly. Illinois’s 2004 Child Passenger Protection Act specifies that

• Children under age 8 weighing under 40 lbs. must be secured in an approved child safety seat. Use a rear-facing one for infants and a forward-facing one for toddlers. Use a forward-facing booster seat with the vehicle lap and shoulder belt system for older preschoolers.
• The parent or legal guardian of a child under 8 years of age must provide a child safety seat to anyone who transports his or her child.

Children with physical disabilities that prevent the use of standard child safety seats are exempt from the provisions of the law if the disability is duly certified by a physician.

Put children in the back seat—away from the air bag!

An inflating passenger air bag can kill a baby in a rear-facing safety seat if the seat is in the front. NHTSA warns against placing a child seat for infants in the front seat of any car with an air bag. The safest place for children of any age to ride is the rear seat of a vehicle.

Give each child a separate seat belt.

A child who isn’t buckled up could hurt himself or someone else. Buckling two people—even two children—into one seat belt could injure both of them in a crash. Each child safety seat needs its own seat belt, too.

Never leave young children alone in a car!

• In just a few minutes alone in a car, children can be in serious danger from heat and dehydration, even if the windows are partly open.
• A child can wriggle out of a seat, hit the controls, and cause the car to move.

Remember that children don’t belong in truck beds.

Allowing children to ride in a truck bed is dangerous and illegal. They can fall out of the truck bed when the driver swerves, brakes, or drives over rough roads. Children may forget what you have told them and stand up, sit on the tailgate, or play while the truck is moving. Children in a covered truck bed can become overheated and may breathe in poisonous carbon monoxide gas from exhaust fumes.

(Statistics are taken from NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis report Traffic Safety Facts 2007 Data: Children.)

For more resources about keeping children safe in the car, please visit these Web sites:

• Child Safety Seat Inspection Stations in Illinois
  http://www.nhtsa.gov/cps/cpsfitting/Index.cfm
• 2004 Amended Illinois Child Passenger Protection Act
  http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=093-0100&GA=093
• Occupant Protection for Children Safety Information
  http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/childps/safetycheck/OccProtetcFor_Children1.pdf
• Child Passenger Safety
  http://www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/CPS
• Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2010
  http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/on-the-go/pages/Car-Safety-Seats-Information-for-Families-2010.aspx?
• Car Seat Safety: Avoid 10 Common Mistakes
  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/car-seat-safety/MY00824

Spanish: Mantenga a su niño seguro en el automóvil

The opinions, resources, and referrals provided in this Tip Sheet are intended for information purposes only and should not be considered or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We advise parents to seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health care provider with questions regarding their child’s health or medical conditions.

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