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Proper Kid-Seat Use Goal of Event: Child Passenger Safety Week Will Feature Various Activities in the Area.

Posted on: Monday, 13 February 2006, 15:00 CST

By Steve Mocarsky, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

Feb. 13--More than 1,600 children age 14 and younger died in or as a result of auto crashes in 2004, and another 214,000 were injured. Half of all those young fatalities were unrestrained, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Car seats significantly reduce the chance of death and serious injuries in children, said Angela Osterhuber, director of the Pennsylvania Traffic Injury Prevention Project, a program of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

It's a message Luzerne County Safe Kids Coalition would like to get across to the public as it recognizes Child Passenger Safety Week, which began Sunday.

Osterhuber said safety studies have shown fatalities are reduced by 71 percent for children in rear-facing seats, and 54 percent for children in front-facing seats.

Rear-facing seats, which are used for infants, generally up to 22 to 35 pounds, are safer because the child's body weight is pushed into the seat in a crash, she said.

This year's theme, "Buckle Up For Life," promotes the correct use of car seats and the importance of securing all children from birth to 8 years old in the appropriate child restraint. Activities will include seat belt programs at local day cares and libraries, information displays at Hoyt Library in Kingston and car seat checks in Wilkes-Barre, said program coordinator Cathy Sabulski.

Sabulski, who also coordinates the Northeast Highway Safety Program, said the organization has distributed about 40 car seats to low- to moderate-income families since she took over as coordinator in June. A grant from PennDOT funds the program, which is administered by Catholic Social Services.

The organization also has distributed car seats and booster seats to Luzerne County Children and Youth Services, whose case workers must sometimes transport small children in county vehicles in emergency situations.

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Car seat inspections.

When: 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday and Feb. 28.

Where: Valley Chevrolet, Conyngham Avenue, Wilkes-Barre.

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-- One out of four of all occupant deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years involve a drinking driver. More than two-thirds of the children fatally injured in 2004 were riding with a drinking driver.

-- Restraint use among young children often depends upon the driver's restraint use. Almost 40 percent of kids riding with unbelted drivers were unrestrained.

-- Many children who ride in child safety seats are improperly secured. A survey of more than 17,500 children found that 15 percent of children in safety seats were correctly harnessed into correctly installed seats.

Source: Centers for Disease Control

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-- Children who are too large for child safety seats often are restrained improperly or not at all. For proper restraint, children who have outgrown child safety seats require booster seats used with vehicle lap/shoulder belts.

-- Lap/shoulder belts usually do not fit children properly until they are 58 inches tall, have a sitting height of 29 inches, and weigh 80 lbs. Therefore, children under age 10 probably will not be big enough to use a lap/shoulder belt without a booster seat.

-- When smaller children restrained with only a lap belt or a poorly fitting lap/shoulder belt become involved in a crash, the belt tends to ride up onto the abdomen, allowing the pelvis to slide under the belt. This places pressure directly on the abdominal organs and might lead to the child flexing over the belt above the hips, resulting in abdominal and/or spinal injuries.

-- Children should remain in a convertible child safety seat as long as they fit well. Convertible seats are the appropriate restraints for children until their ears reach the top of the back of the safety seat and their shoulders are above the top strap slots, or until they reach the upper weight limit of the seat.

-- Belt-positioning booster seats should be used until lap/shoulder belts fit properly. Belt-positioning boosters raise children so that the safety belt fits correctly and should always be used with a lap/shoulder belt. Booster seats with high backs are recommended for vehicles with seat backs that do not support a child's head.

-- Lap/shoulder belts should fit properly. A child cannot ride comfortably and remain properly restrained until tall enough for the knees to bend over the edge of the seat when the child's back is resting firmly against the seat back.

-- Whenever possible, child passengers should be placed in the back seat.

Source: Centers for Disease Control

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Copyright (c) 2006, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)

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