Automobile Safety for Children

Each year thousands of children and young adults are killed or seriously injured in automobile accidents, and many could be saved by practicing simple safety precautions such as using a seatbelt. New, young drivers cause a great many of these kinds of accidents because they have not yet learned to properly handle a motor vehicle and they drive at speeds too fast for the conditions around them. Here are some of the simple safety precautions that children should be aware of:

1. Always put on the seat belt when in a motor vehicle whether the driver or another passenger does not.

2. Insist that everyone else "buckle up".

3. Be a "back-seat driver" if necessary to tell the driver to slow down or to be more careful.

4. Never stick your head or arms or legs out of the window of a moving car. They could be injured by another vehicle passing too close.

5. When playing in your neighborhood, never chase a ball or other object out into the street without first stopping and looking for traffic.

6. Never run between parked cars out into the street. Other drivers will not be able to see you.

7. Don't ride with anyone who has been drinking.

8. Don't drive after you have been drinking, if old enough to drive a car.

9. Promote the lifesaving benefits of correctly used safety belts and child safety seats.

In addition to those safety tips, there is more information to be aware of related to automobile accidents. For example, the back seat is generally the safest place in a crash. If your vehicle has a passenger air bag, it is essential for children 12 and under to ride in back.

Also, infants should ride in rear facing restraints (in the back seat) until age 1 and at least 20-22 lbs. Infants who weigh 20 lbs. before 1 year of age should ride in a restraint approved for higher rear facing weights. Always read your child restraint manual for instructions on properly using the restraint. Children over age one and at least 20 pounds may ride facing forward.

Put the belt through the correct slots. If your safety seat can be used facing either way, use the correct belt path for each direction. Check the vehicle owner's manual and safety seat instruction book for guidance. Keep harness straps snug over the child's shoulders. Place the chest clip at armpit level.

Keep your child in a safety seat with a full harness as long as possible, at least until 40 pounds. Then use a belt-positioning booster seat which helps the adult lap and shoulder belt fit better. A belt-positioning booster seat is preferred for children between 40-80 pounds. It is used with the adult lap and shoulder belt.

Older children should be tall enough to sit without slouching, with knees bent at the edge of the seat, with feet on the floor. The lap belt must fit low and tight across the upper thighs. The shoulder belt should rest over the shoulder and across the chest. Never put the shoulder belt under the arm or behind the child's back. And finally, the adult lap and shoulder belt system alone will not fit most children until they are at least 4'9" tall and weigh about 80 pounds.

Minnesota Personal Injury Attorney and Lawyer Schwebel Goetz and Sieben offers legal services to Minneapolis MN car accident injury victims.