Call For Updated Child Car Seat Laws

Credit: Babies-R-Us

Credit: Babies-R-Us

New York’s outdated child car seat laws put young children at risk because the statutes do not require that little ones to ride facing the rear of vehicles, AAA said last week.

Safety experts strongly recommend that children ride in rear-facing car seats until they are 2. New York law requires children to be in car seats until they are 4 years old. But the law does not distinguish between rear-facing or forward-facing seats.

“It’s time for New York’s vehicle and traffic law to catch up to current best practices,” said AAA spokesman Robert Sinclair.

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children in the US. Buckling up is the best way to save lives and reduce injuries.

One-year-olds are five times more likely to be seriously injured in a crash if they ride in a forward-facing car seat compared with a rear-facing seat, according to one study.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Child passenger restraint laws result in more children being buckled up. Only 2 out of every 100 children live in states that require car seat or booster seat use for children age 8 and under.

A third of children who died in crashes in 2011 were not buckled up. Parents and caregivers—can do more to protect children on the road. Almost half of all black (45%) and Hispanic (46%) children who died in crashes were not buckled up (2009 – 2010).

NY_car seat rules

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that Consider proven strategies for increasing car seat, booster seat, and seat belt use and reducing child motor vehicle injuries and deaths. Options for effective strategies include:

  • Child passenger restraint laws that require car seat or booster seat use for children age 8 and under or until 57 inches tall, the recommended height for proper seat belt fit.
  • Car seat and booster seat give-away programs that include education for parents or caregivers.

Source: Centers for Disease Control

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