DMV: Happy Child Passenger Safety Week!

      AAA Press Release

 

 

Contact: Fran Mayko, Public Relations

203-928-6509 Office

 

 

Booster Seat Use Increases 43% With Education,
Discounts, AAA Study Shows

 

      Parents and caregivers are 43% more likely to put children in booster seats once they learn how important the seats are to child safety and how easy they are to use, a new AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study says.

 

      Combine this education with either incentives or the distribution of free seats and parents and caregivers are twice as likely to use boosters, the study adds.
 
      More than 400 children between the ages 4-8 are killed annually in traffic crashes while another 70,000 are injured, according to the AAA Foundation. When properly used with lap and shoulder belts, booster seats can reduce serious injury by 60%.
 
      These figures, released this morning at a news conference in Washington D.C., parallel statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that reports motor vehicle crashes are the number 1 killer of American children between ages 3 and 14. NHTSA research also has found that child passenger safety seats in general reduce fatal injury by 71% for infants less than 1 year old and by 54% for toddlers between 1 and 4 years old in passenger cars.
 

      The AAA Foundation, the not-for-profit, publicly-supported charitable educational and research arm of AAA, commissioned the study to determine the most effective interventions to get caregivers to put children in booster seats.

 

      The Foundation commissioned researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to undertake a systematic review of studies that previously evaluated interventions aimed at increasing booster seat use. The study confirmed three approaches work best:  education, education in conjunction with giveaway programs, and education with incentive programs, such as a discounts or coupons to purchase a booster seat.

 

      This research also has important implications for state policymakers: single interventions aren’t the answer and it’s important that booster seat legislation be connected with educational and outreach components such as car seat clinics.

 

      Since June 2002, AAA Connecticut Motor Club has sold child safety seats to members at discounted prices; and has conducted monthly clinics to educate parents and guardians on the importance of car seat and booster seat use. In fact, the club partners with The Milford Police and Fire Department; the Weston Fire Department; the Belltown (Stamford) Volunteer Fire Department and Merriam Motors, Wallingford.

      Together, technicians have inspected more than 5,000 child safety seats over the last 3.5 years and have discovered that 86% of the seats are either installed or used incorrectly.

      To highlight Child Passenger Safety Seat Week, AAA Connecticut Motor Club is sharing these statistics to help reduce the number of children injured or killed annually in motor vehicle crashes. It’s also a way to make parents and guardians aware of the four most common mistakes made when installing or using a child passenger safety seat. These are:

 

Child seats aren’t installed as tight as they should be. About 39% of the seats inspected were too loose in a vehicle. There should be limited movement once the seat is properly installed in the vehicle. To check for tightness, grab the child seat where the car’s seat belt threads through it and pull. The child seat shouldn’t move more than an inch from side to side. If it does, it’s not in tight enough.

 

Harness straps aren’t used correctly to adequately secure the child in the seat. This accounted for nearly 12% of the mistakes. Harness straps should be flat and snug across the child’s chest and over the child’s shoulders. Many are found to be to loose. The straps should also lie on the child without any slack. The retainer clip – the plastic gadget that holds the straps in place – should be placed at armpit level on the child. If the retain clip is improperly positioned, the harness straps won’t adequately secure the child.

 

Locking clips either aren’t used or aren’t used correctly.  In 11.3% of the inspected seats, the locking clip -- a buckle-like device that sometimes is used to secure the seat in place – was either not used or used incorrectly on the car’s seat belt system. Not every child seat needs a locking clip; that depends upon the car’s existing seat belt system.

 

Retainer clips aren’t placed at armpit level.  In nearly 9% of the inspected seats, the retainer clip – the plastic clasp attached to the harness straps that secures the child in the seat  -- was placed incorrectly on the child. When properly positioned, the retainer clip keeps the harness straps properly in place, which in turn, keeps the child from being ejected from the seat in the event of a crash.

 

      The Connecticut Motor Club, an AAA affiliate, provides comprehensive travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services to more than 493,000 members in Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven Counties. Our web site is www.aaact.com.

 

-AAA-

 



Content Last Modified on 2/16/2006 9:18:33 AM