Child
Passenger Safety  A closer look at children ages 0 -14
(According to Injury in Colorado published by the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment in 2002)
Motor vehicle traffic crashes are the leading cause of injury death for children ages 1 – 14. For infants under the age of one, motor vehicle traffic crashes are the third leading cause of injury death (behind homicide and choking/suffocation). On average, 39 Colorado children ages 0 – 14 die in motor vehicle traffic crashes each year. This represents nearly 33 % of all injury deaths and 46 % of all unintentional injury deaths in this age group.
On average 370 children ages 0 – 14 are hospitalized each year for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle crash. This represents 18% of all childhood injury hospitalizations and 21% of the childhood unintentional injury hospitalizations.
As a Best Practice, The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration recommends:
- Children 12 and under should ride in the vehicle's back seat, especially in vehicles with air bags.
- Rear-facing child seats should be used by infants weighing up to 20 pounds AND until at least one year of age.
- Forward-facing child seats should be used by children over one year old and 20 pounds to age four and up to 40 pounds.
- Belt-positioning booster seats should be used by children ages 4 – 8 who weigh more than 40 pounds and are less than 4'9” tall.
- Children who are ages 8 and older or are 4'9” or taller should be buckled in lap/shoulder belts.
To view the Colorado law regarding children in this age/weight range:
CarSeatsColorado.com
|
