Safety Seats

Child safety seats in passenger cars reduce the risk of death by 71 percent for infants and by 54 percent for toddlers. Children ages 4 to 7 who use booster seats are 59 percent less likely to be injured in a car accident than children restrained only by a safety belt.

Sadly, children who are in safety seats are often still injured during car accidents because they are in the wrong type of seat or the seat is installed improperly. More than 81 percent of child restraints are used incorrectly, including 88 percent of forward-facing toddler seats, 86 percent of rear-facing infant seats, and 85 percent of safety belts

There are organizations in Alaska to help parents and caregivers check the installation of safety seats and answer questions. SAFE KIDS is an organization whose goal is to reduce the number of unintentional injury and deaths in children under the age of 14. For the Anchorage SAFE KIDS coalition, call 261-3194; in Juneau call 465-8632; in Fairbanks call 458-5585; in Kodiak call 486-9569, in Seward and Palmer call 352-2849; and on the Kenai Peninsula call 235-0285.

< Back