Keeping children safe on the road means putting them in the right restraint at the right age. As part of Child Passenger Safety Week Feb. 9-15, the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning is reminding parents and child care providers to follow the 4 Steps for Kids.

The No. 1 cause of accidental death for children 0-15 in Michigan is motor vehicle crashes, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health. In 2001, 90 children 0-15 died and 9,830 were injured in Michigan traffic crashes.

While most infants and toddlers ride in the right child safety seat, less than 10 percent of the children who should be in booster seats use one. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is stressing that children who have outgrown child safety seats be properly restrained in booster seats in the back seat until they are at least eight years old, unless they are 4' 9" tall.

"Securing your child in the right restraint at the right time is one of the most important things you can do to protect your child,’’ said Betty J. Mercer, OHSP division director.

The 4 Steps for Kids are:

1. REAR-FACING INFANT SEATS in the back seat from birth to at least one year old and at least 20 pounds.
2. FORWARD-FACING TODDLER SEATS in the back seat from age one to about age four and 20 to 40 pounds.
3. BOOSTER SEATS in the back seat from about age four and 40 pounds to at least age eight, unless 4' 9".
4. SAFETY BELTS at age eight or older or taller than 4' 9". All children 12 and under should ride in the back seat.

Michigan law requires children under age four to be in an approved child safety seat, regardless of the seating position. Children from ages four to 15 must wear a safety belt, including in the back seat.

Child Passenger Safety Week is a national effort designed to draw attention to ways to keep young passengers safe in motor vehicles. For more information about child passenger safety, go to ww.nhtsa.dot.gov.

CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY FACT SHEET

Most kids age four to eight need booster seats.

NHTSA recommends using booster seats in the back seat for children from about age four and 40 pounds to at least age eight, unless 4'9".

Moving to a safety belt too early greatly increases risk of injury.

Children age two to five who are prematurely graduated to safety belts are four times more likely to sustain a serious head injury than those restrained in child safety seats or booster seats. [Winston, F.K., Durbin, D.R., Kallan, M.J., & Moll, E.K. (2000). "The danger of premature graduation to safety belts for young children." Pediatrics, 105(6), 1179-1183]

Because many state laws only require children to be in a safety seat up to age four or so, many parents assume older kids are safe in just a safety belt.

However, all children need to be restrained correctly whenever they ride in a motor vehicle. As of December 2002, only 15 States and the District of Columbia had enacted booster seat provisions in their child restraint laws.

The booster is overlooked by the majority of people.

Sixty-three percent of children who should have been in belt-positioning booster seats, typically children age four to eight, are inappropriately restrained. [Child Passengers at Risk in America: A National Study of Restraint Use, National SAFE KIDS Campaign, 2002]

The vast majority of child safety seats are used incorrectly.

According to SAFE KIDS study, more than 81 percent of child restraints are used incorrectly, as determined at child safety seat inspection stations across the country. [Child Passengers at Risk in America: A National Study of Restraint Use, National SAFE KIDS Campaign, 2002]

Research on the effectiveness of child safety seats has found them to reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants (less than one year old) and by 54 percent for toddlers (one to four years old) in passenger cars. [NHTSA’s Traffic Safety Facts 2001 - Children]

Adult driver safety belt use is the leading predictor of child restraint use.

In a study, 40 percent of children riding with unbelted drivers were completely unrestrained, compared with only 5 percent of children riding with drivers using safety belts. [Child Passengers at Risk in America: A National Study of Restraint Use, National SAFE KIDS Campaign, 2002]

The LATCH system helps parents install car seats tightly with the least effort and the least likelihood of error.

As of Sept. 1, 2002, all new child safety seats and new motor vehicles, except convertibles, come equipped with the Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system. LATCH makes it possible to install a child safety seat (and some booster seats) more easily without using an adult safety belt.

Read more press releases from the Michigan State Police.