Child Passenger Safety Week runs until National Seat Check Day Saturday, which is September 24th this year. Both events are meant to bring awareness to keeping children safe in cars and on the road.
Car accidents are currently the leading cause of death for children. In 2019, 608 child passengers died as a result of a car accident. Thirty-eight percent of those children were unrestrained. Child pedestrians fared much worse. 2,409 children died from pedestrian injuries between 2017 and 2020. Many child passenger deaths are preventable when adults take the proper precautions.
In-Person Car Seat Inspections
According to research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than half of car seats are incorrectly installed. In its Car Seats and Booster Seats Guide, the NHTSA recommends finding the right car seat, installing it correctly using its instructions, and registering the car seat to receive safety instructions.
Parents and caregivers should also locate a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician to ensure that the car seat is installed correctly and that all safety precautions are followed. CPS Technicians may be found using this database: https://portalskcms.cyzap.net/dzapps/dbzap.bin/apps/assess/webmembers/secure/manage/.
Free car seat check-up events are also held throughout the year in Miami-Dade at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. However, appointments are required. Interested caregivers should contact Malvina Duncan at malvina.duncan@mch.com or call (305) 666-6511.
Virtual Car Seat Check-Up
If there are no in-person car seat checks available in a desired area, drivers of child passengers should attend a virtual event. Safe Kids Worldwide and its 400 coalitions offer regular group or one-on-one virtual car seat check-ups with a nationally certified child passenger safety technician (CPST). Caregivers may locate and contact their local coalition for more information on upcoming virtual car seat checkups at www.safekids.org/safe-kids-coalitions-united-states.
Expert Car Seat Installation Videos
Virtual car seat installations led by expert technicians explain how to install rear-facing and forward-facing car seats as well as booster seats. Videos provided by Safe Kids may be found on their YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/user/safekidsusa. Drivers that cannot locate a car seat technician, class, or check-up can learn how to correctly install car seats by watching these video guides.
Child Passenger Safety Classes
In classes provided by organizations such as Safe Kids and the National Child Passenger Safety Board, drivers of children may learn about car seat basics, the dangers of children being in hot cars, and other specialized topics related to the transportation of children. These classes are taught by child passenger safety technicians and cover information related to children passengers from babies to adolescents.
Keeping Pedestrian Children Safe
Each year, approximately 600 children die from pedestrian injuries. To keep children safe on the roads, the Children’s Safety Network recommends that communities enforce speed limits. The pedestrian death rate of children in non-metro areas is almost 1.4 times the rate of metro areas, which implies that drivers are taking advantage of less congested roadways to drive faster. Additional preventative measures include reducing distracted driving and distracted walking. For tips on how to reduce distracted driving, read our blog post “2022 Safe Driving Resolution” at panterlaw.com/2022/01/10/safe-driving-resolution.
Safety Resources For Our South Florida Community
It takes just moments for a devastating accident to occur. At Panter, Panter & Sampedro, we strive to help keep our communities safe by being a resource and hope individuals will employ these tips. We are a leading personal injury law firm dedicated to protecting Florida’s families. Please contact us at (305) 662-6178 for a free consultation.
Sources:
https://nationaltoday.com/child-passenger-safety-awareness-week/
https://www.safekids.org/blog/happy-child-passenger-safety-week
https://www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov/get-materials/child-safety/child-passenger-safety-week
https://www.childrenssafetynetwork.org/infographics/infographic-child-pedestrian-safety
https://www.safekids.org/post/more-half-car-seats-are-not-installed-correctly
https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/car-seats-and-booster-seats
https://www.youtube.com/user/safekidsusa
https://www.udemy.com/course/basic-child-passenger-safety/
https://panterlaw.com/2022/08/17/pedestrian-deaths/
https://panterlaw.com/2022/01/10/safe-driving-resolution/
