2010 Child Passenger Safety Week

Car Seat Inspections Offered Across Pennsylvania As Part Of Child Passenger Safety Week

Safe Kids Pennsylvania and Affiliates Join National Event

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Safe Kids Pennsylvania and its affiliates will celebrate Child Passenger Safety Week (September 19-25) by conducting car seat checkup events for families and their children. Statewide, certified child passenger safety technicians will provide more than 100 child safety seat inspection events and provide hands-on education to parents and caregivers throughout the week.

"Research shows that as children age, they are less likely to be in the appropriate child safety seat for their age and weight," said Allyson Fulton, Safe Kids Pennsylvania Coordinator. "Safe Kids Pennsylvania would like to change that by helping assure that each child in a vehicle is fully protected. Every child deserves to grow up safely, and we are pleased to work through our coalitions at the state and local level to promote and improve child safety in vehicles during this week."

Safe Kids coalitions will also join the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in activities to support Seat Check Saturday on September 25. Pennsylvania parents and caregivers can find Safe Kids Buckle Up seat check events across the commonwealth by visiting the Safe Kids Pennsylvania website www.PaSafeKids.org.

A 2008 report from NHTSA shows that children from birth to age 1 were in a car seat 99 percent of the time.  Children from ages 1-3 were in car seats 92 percent of the time and kids 4-7 were in seats 89 percent of the time.  Sadly, as kids get to be between 8-12 they ride in a restraint only 85 percent of the time.

Also according to NHTSA, child safety seats reduce the risk of death for infants (under 1 year old) in a vehicle crash by 71 percent, and reduce the likelihood to toddlers (1 to 4 years old) by 54 percent.  All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have laws requiring children to be restrained while riding in cars.  

Parents and caregivers should follow a few basic guidelines to determine which restraint system is best suited to protect their children in a vehicle:

• For the best possible protection keep infants in a back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible—up to the height or weight limit of the particular seat. Never turn a child forward-facing before age 1 and at least 20 pounds, although keeping kids rear-facing until at least age 2 is safer and preferred if the seat allows.
• When children outgrow their rear-facing seats, they should ride in forward-facing child safety seats, in a back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular harnessed seat. Many newer seats exceed the old 40 pound weight limit.
• Once children outgrow their forward-facing seats, they should ride in booster seats, in the back seat, until the vehicle seat belts fit properly.
• Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt rests on the shoulder or collar bone (usually when the child is between 8 and 12 years old, approximately 4'9" tall and 80 to 100 pounds).

Safe Kids Buckle Up, the child passenger safety program of Safe Kids USA in partnership with the General Motors Foundation, hosts child safety seat checkups and other vehicle safety events throughout the year.

Safe Kids Pennsylvania is a member of Safe Kids USA, a network of organizations with the mission of preventing unintentional childhood injury, the leading cause of death and disability to children ages 1 to 14. More than 600 coalitions in the United States and nineteen member countries form Safe Kids Worldwide, which brings together health and safety experts, educators, corporations, foundations, governments and volunteers to educate and protect families. Safe Kids Pennsylvania is managed by the Center for Schools and Communities. For more information, go to www.PaSafeKids.org.

In partnership with General Motors since 1997, Safe Kids Buckle Up, the child passenger safety program of Safe Kids USA, has inspected 1.28 million car seats; held approximately 65,000 car seat checkup events around the country; donated more than 457,000 car seats to families in need and educated more than 21 million parents and caregivers.

Media contact: Aylissa Kiely Tyndale for Safe Kids Pennsylvania 717-903-0219 (c); 717-763-1661 x117 (o); [email protected]

SOURCE Safe Kids Pennsylvania