NYC Injury Headlines

National Child Passenger Safety Week

On February 13-19, 2005, the nation participated in Child Passenger Safety Week, dedicated to bringing about awareness of NHTSA policy on Child Passenger Safety (CPS). NHTSA has developed a national strategic plan to increase booster seat use among 4-8 year olds, which uses public-private partnerships, strong laws, active law enforcement, and public education to promote the use of safety belts.

Last Fall, NHTSA released results of a major survey showing that relatively few children who should be riding in booster seats are doing so. The nationwide telephone survey indicates that just 21 percent of children age four to eight are "at least on occasion" riding in a booster seat while traveling in a passenger vehicle. Another 19 percent of children in this age range were restrained "at least on occasion" in a front-facing child safety seat.

"This survey supports what our crash statistics imply, that children are at unnecessary risk of being injured in crashes because they are either in the wrong restraint for their size, or worse, totally unrestrained," said NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D. "Children are not only safer, but more comfortable in a safety belt that fits, and that’s what a booster seat provides."

During 2002, a total of 1,785 children from birth through age 15 were killed in passenger vehicle crashes. Approximately 54 percent of passenger vehicle occupants in this age group were unrestrained. The breakdown by age group was as follows:

40.4 percent of children from birth through age 4 were unrestrained.

48.6 percent of children ages 5 through 9 were unrestrained.

62.3 percent of children ages 10 through 15 were unrestrained.

All 50 States have a Child Passenger Safety Law. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have now adopted booster seat laws to protect children over the age of four who are still not large enough to safely be buckled into adult safety belts.