Motor vehicle crashes are the chief cause of death among children in the United States. Many deaths can be prevented by using child passenger safety seats. Nearly 400 children’s lives were saved in 2006 because of the use of child safety seats. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), placing children in restraints appropriate for their ages and sizes can cut deaths and serious injuries by one-half.

Moreover, child safety seats, when installed correctly and used, reduce the risk of fatal injuries among infants by 70 percent, and by about half (47 percent to 54 percent) for toddlers. In addition, the hospitalization rate for children ages four and younger is significantly reduced (by 69 percent) when safety seats are used.

All 50 states enforce laws requiring children traveling in motor vehicles to be restrained in infant or child safety seats that meet federal safety standards and are appropriate for the child’s size and age. States can vary in defining these restrictions and in the enforcement of provisions and penalties.

Despite the law and the statistics, nearly two-thirds of children ages 4 to 8 (62 percent) are still being inappropriately restrained in adult seat belts (Pediatrics 2004). In addition, a large number of parents are using the child restraint systems incorrectly (72 percent of nearly 3,500 child restraint systems observed by NHTSA in 2006), which increases a child’s risk of injury during a crash.

How to Make Your Child a Safe Passenger

• Seat all children ages 12 and younger in the back seat, and make sure they are properly restrained according to their age, weight and/or height. 
• Infants should ride in rear-facing back seats until a minimum of age one and at least 20 pounds. Ideally the child should be kept in the seat up to the height or weight limit specified for the seat.
• Children should ride in forward-facing seats in the back seat after they outgrow the rear-facing seats. These seats generally are used until the child is age four or about 40 pounds.
• At about age four (and 40 pounds), children generally outgrow their forward-facing safety seats, and they need to start using car booster seats to bring them up to the height at which seat belts fit correctly. The seat belt is fitted correctly when it lays across the upper thighs — off the abdomen and on the hip — and the shoulder belt fits across the chest, and not on the neck. Most children should use booster seats until about age eight or when they are 4’9” tall. Incorrectly placed seat belts can cause severe injury in a crash when they tighten on the neck and abdomen.
• Children are ready for adult seat belts in the back seat usually by age eight (or when they are 4’9” tall), as long as the belt fits properly.

For more details regarding proper restraints, including rear-facing seats for infants and forward-facing seats and booster seats for infants, toddlers and small children, visit

• The NHTSA website at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.9f8c7d6359e0e9bbbf30811060008a0c/  
• The American Academy of Pediatrics website www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm.

NHTSA says seven in 10 child safety seats are either the wrong size or are misused. For resources, including child seat ratings and contact information for trained technicians in your area who can assist you in installing your child safety seat correctly, visit:

• The NHTSA website at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/childps/CPSFitting/Index.cfm.  (click on Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician Locator)
• The Safe Kids Worldwide website at  www.safekids.org.