The vast majority of parents in the United States place the health, safety and well being of their children at the very top of their priority lists. They make sure that they are fed a proper diet and that they are properly clothed. They make sure that they interact with their children and help them develop in a cognitive sense, and they make sure that they do not allow their children to put themselves in positions where they encounter risks of harm.
Unfortunately, even the best intentions do not always provide the utmost in protection. Sadly, too many parents are not taking proper care of their children while they are in their vehicles, even if they think they are doing so. This week is National Child Passenger Safety Week, and it’s as good a time as any for parents to make sure that their child’s car seat or booster seat is installed properly and that they are taking proper steps to strap their children in so that they can avoid an unnecessary risk of injury or worse if something goes wrong.
In furtherance of this week, several news outlets around the country are publishing troubling statistics regarding child safety seats in vehicles. Some of those extremely troubling statistics include:
- 90 percent of all child car seats are not installed correctly.
- 20 percent of parents do not always buckle their children into the car seat.
- More than 60 percent of crashes involving children occur within 10 minutes of home.