If you've got a child four to nine years old and you're not completely sure about the proper usage of booster seats in your vehicle, you need to read this.
Every year, about 12,000 children 15 and under are killed or injured in car crashes in Canada. That's a scary number, but the good news is serious injuries to children in motor-vehicle crashes have been declining since the 1980s.
The message still hasn't reached everyone -- people still see untethered tots bouncing around in vehicles all too frequently -- but most parents do stow their younger children in properly-designed, rear-facing car seats and insist older children wear seat belts.
Public-awareness programs have increased general knowledge and it really helps that both of the aforementioned actions are required by law, but one age segment, 4 to 9, remains very much at risk, according to a study released Monday by Safe Kids Canada, the national injury-prevention program at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. The study announcement kicked off the Safe Kids Week 2004 campaign.
Safe Kids Canada's executive director, Allyson Hewitt, says between 1997 and 2001, the death rate from car crashes dropped 52 per cent among children under 5, and by 25 per cent among those 10 to 14, but did not drop at all for those five to nine years old.
Between 1994 and 2000, hospital admissions for the 5-and-under group declined 45 per cent, while those among children 10 to 14 dropped 40 per cent. The reduction for the 5-to-9 group was 18 per cent.
Hewitt says, currently, about 35 children four to nine years old (the group the booster-seat study focused on) die each year and another 360 are seriously injured in car crashes in Canada.
"We're really great about protecting young children and for those who fit the seatbelts, we're doing a pretty good job. But for the kids in this [four-to-nine] age group, we're not doing the best job we can," Hewitt says.
Securing children in that age group in a booster seat that can be purchased for less than $50 could save a lot of heartache, but the Safe Kids' study shows only 28 per cent of parents make use of such devices. Eighty-four per cent believe their kids are too big for car or booster seats, and more than half feel that by 6, a child is safe in a seatbelt, the study says.
This just isn't the case, Hewitt says, pointing out most children don't reach a size compatible with seatbelts until they are at least nine years old.
With some 2.5 million Canadian children four to nine years old, the potential risk is huge. Given the 28 per cent booster seat-usage figure, some 1.8 million children are being driven around improperly protected. Only Quebec has a law requiring booster seats, but Ontario recently proposed legislation that could be on the books by 2005.
The technical problem is seatbelts are designed for adult-sized bodies. When a child that is too small uses a belt system, the belts often cross the neck and abdomen. In a crash, this can cause injures to the spine and internal organs. The child also risks ejection from the vehicle.
Children often compound the danger by trying to adjust the belts to make them more comfortable, tucking the shoulder belt behind their backs, for example.
General Motors recently ran a series of crash simulations using a dummy to represent a six-year-old. It confirmed significant forward and sideways movement in a crash and found the seatbelt often rode up over the soft abdominal area.
So how can you figure out if your child needs a booster seat?
Booster seats are designed for children 18 to 36 kg (40 to 80 pounds) or a rough age range of from four to nine years old.
There are four types:
High-back seats are used with a lap/shoulder-belt system and have a high back that supports the child. Some models convert from car seats to booster seats.
No-back seats are also used with lap/shoulder belt systems and can be employed where the vehicle has an adjustable headrest that can be placed to protect the child.
Shield-type boosters use only a lap belt (some centre-seating positions only offer this type of belt). Those employing the full lap-and-shoulder harness system are considered safer.
Devices to adjust seatbelts to fit children are not considered a good idea. The booster seat should be installed in the rear-seat area.
To determine if your child needs a booster seat, measure from the tailbone to the top of the head while the child is seated. This measurement needs to be 63 cm (25 inches) before you can even consider using a seat belt, says Safe Kids.
Then, test the way the belts fit. The shoulder belt should go across the shoulder without touching the neck; the lap belt should fit low over the hipbone, under the abdomen. The child should be able to sit up straight and still bend his or her legs over the seat edge.
If your child doesn't meet these criteria you need to use a booster seat.
(A growth chart brochure, provided by Johnson & Johnson Inc. and includes information on the sizing procedure, is available in stores across Canada as part of Safe Kids Week 2004.)
To view the GM tests, go to http://www.gmability.com, and access additional information, including the car-seat safety survey, at http://www.safekidscanada.ca.
