Whether it is the daily drop off and pick up of your kids or a long road trip with your family, your children’s passenger safety is of utmost priority. Utilizing the CDC Guidelines, we have summarized below vehicle safety instructions for all age groups of children from birth to 12 years+. We recommend you also check your local laws and safety guidelines to ensure the safety of your children.
Birth to 4 years
The ideal seat for infants less than one-year-old is a rear-facing car seat with a harness in the back of your vehicle. The best practice is to keep them in a rear-facing car seat as long as possible, until they reach the maximum weight or heigh limit of their car seat. Never place a rear-facing car seat in the front seat. Front passenger air bags can injure or kill young children in a crash.
4 years+
Once your child has reached the maximum weight and heigh limit for a rear-facing car seat, you should begin use a forward-facing car seat along with a harness. They should also continue to remain in the backseat.
5 years+
As soon as your child reaches the limit of weight and height for the forward-facing car seat, it is wise transition to a booster seat in the back of your vehicle. Your child should always be buckled into the booster seat.
9 to 12 years+
Children can transition to a regular car seat as soon as the lap belt fits tightly on their upper thighs (not the stomach) and the shoulder belt lies across the center of their shoulder and chest (not on the neck/face or off the shoulder).
Conclusion
Motor vehicle injuries are a leading cause of death among children in the United States, but many of these deaths can be prevented. Always buckling children in age- and size-appropriate car seats, booster seats, and seat belts reduces serious injuries and death by up to 80%.
