Kids Need Car Seats - Car Seat Safety Tips

Engineers are working hard to ensure that cars and car seats are designed to keep kids as safe as possible. But it’s up to every parent to take full advantage of these innovations by making sure car seats and booster seats are used and installed correctly.

THE FACTS: Road injuries are the leading cause of unintentional deaths to children in the United States. Correctly used child safety seats can reduce the risk of death by as much as 71 percent. 

Here’s what you need to know to ensure that your most precious cargo is safe in cars:

1. Seventy-three percent of car seats are not used or installed correctly, so before you hit the road, check your car seat. Here’s a quick car seat checklist to help you out. It takes only 15 minutes. If you are having even the slightest trouble, questions or concerns, certified child passenger safety technicians are able to help or even double check your work.
2. Learn how to install your car seat for free. Safe Kids hosts car seat inspection events across the country where certified technicians can help you learn to install your car seat properly. They will teach you so that you can always be sure your car seat is used correctly. Find a Safe Kids car seat checkup event near you. 
3. Buy a used car seat only if you know its full crash history. That means you must buy it from someone you know, not from a thrift store, from a stranger, or from a listserve. Once a car seat has been in a crash, is missing parts, or is expired or broken, it needs to be replaced.
4. We know that when adults wear seat belts, kids wear seat belts. So be a good example and buckle up for every ride. Be sure everyone in the vehicle buckles up, too.
5. Never leave your child alone in a car, not even for a minute. While it may be tempting to dash out for a quick errand, the temperature inside your car can rise 20 degrees and cause heatstroke in the time it takes for you to run in and out of the store.