Child Seats

For Children

• It is estimated that over 85% of all car safety seats are incorrectly installed in Maryland.
  
• To determine if you safety seat is properly installed, click here to find an inspection site in your area. http://www.fha.state.md.us/ohpetup/kiss/kiss.htm.
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• The CDC is quoted as saying “Motor vehicle injuries are the greatest public health problem facing children today. In fact, they are the leading cause of death among children at every age after their first birthday.”
  
• According to the NHTSA, most of these injuries are preventable. Placing children in age-appropriate restraint systems reduces serious and fatal injuries by more than half.
  
• The good news, according to a NHTSA survey, is that restraint use by young children reached record levels in 2002, with 99% of infants and 94% of toddlers restrained nationwide.
  
• The bad news was that only 83% of 4-7 year olds were found to be restrained.
  
• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children 4 to 14, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
  
• Booster seats for young children are critical to the safety and welfare of your children.
  
• Seat belts are not designed for children. Young children are too small for seat belts and too large for toddler seats. A booster seat raises your child up so that the seat belt fits properly.

For Adults:

• Airbags are designed to be used with seat belts. If you are not buckled up, in a crash you could be throw too close and be seriously injured or even killed.
  
• You are the role model for your children. If you don’t wear your seat belt, statistics show that neither will they.
  
• Seat belts are the best defense against drunk drivers.
  
• According to NHTSA, over the last 26 years, safety belts have prevented 135,000 deaths and 3.8 million injuries. If everyone in the vehicle had used their safety belt, almost 315,000 deaths and 5.2 million injuries could have been prevented.
  
• As of July, 2004, 21 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico all had primary seat belt laws. A primary seat belt law lets an officer stop you and issue a ticket without observing any other infraction except the fact that you weren’t wearing your seat belt.

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