In the daunting world of rules and regulations about child vehicle safety seats there’s one simple thing parents and caregivers can do to ensure children learn the importance of buckling up: Use your own seatbelt.
In 2023, 1,019 children aged 14 and under were killed in traffic crashes – 700 of them in passenger vehicles. The others were pedestrians, pedal cyclists, passengers in light trucks or “other,” according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics.
Of those 700 children, whether they were restrained in safety seats or with seat belts was known for 620 – and 43% of those (264 children) were unrestrained. The NHTSA says there is a “strong correlation between caregivers who buckle up and their child passengers’ seatbelt use.”
In 2023, 64% of unrestrained children who died in passenger vehicles were riding with drivers who were not wearing seatbelts.
And while infants and toddlers might not immediately pick up on the habits of their caregivers, they do catch on at some point. Or not. Children aged 13-14 who died in crashes had the highest rate – 61% — among children for failing to use seatbelts.
The statistics show that the percentage of unrestrained children who die in crashes begins to rise with the group aged 4-7, when some might start to buckle themselves in – if they’ve formed the habit.
Sam Cole, traffic safety officer with the Colorado Department of Transportation, said he’s not surprised by what the national statistics show as seat belt use drops off with older kids in Colorado, too.
“As each stage evolves we see lower usage,” he said. “Parents just have to be persistent when it comes to keeping their kids in the appropriate restraint to keep them safe.
“You are setting up good behaviors for life when you buckle your child in at an early age.”
Infants and young children rely on parents or caregivers to get them into a properly fitting seat that is installed correctly. But there are big failure rates here as well: studies show that half to three-quarters of child seats are improperly installed.
Or, Cole said, kids are in the wrong seat for their size and age. Parents tend to move them too quickly from car seats to booster seats and too quickly again from booster seats to seat belts.
Colorado law changed this year to require children up to age 2 to be in a rear-facing child seat installed in the back seat (if one is available), and children ages 4-9 who weigh at least 40 pounds must ride in a booster seat. In between those groups, kids can be in a front-facing child seat.
That means most children will require three different car seats as they grow and before they can use a standard seat belt.
And they should get that infant one and have it installed by a technician – that part is free – well before the baby’s due date.
“It is a critical item to have,” Cole said. “It should be at the top of the list.”
Colorado has no clearinghouse for people looking for free car seats, but some local nonprofits might help.
Used seats can be an option, but they must be re-certified. Grabbing your cousin’s dusty old seat from a corner of the garage is likely not a good choice – the seats have expiration dates and deteriorate with exposure to sun and cold. Also, seats that have been in a crash should not be used.
Colorado offers free car seat recycling across the state to ensure that outdated or damaged seats are taken out of circulation. Find where to recycle here: https://www.codot.gov/safety/carseats/recycle-program-for-car-seats
A good, one-stop website for information and resources on car seats is carseatscolorado.com. The CDOT website has guides and resources in 16 languages and a search function to find free installation throughout the state.
Take a few minutes and learn what you need to know. Not only does the law require that children ride in appropriate car seats or boosters, whether they’re with mom and dad, grandparents, friends or other caregivers, it’s the best bet to keep your child safe from injury or death in a crash.
Other helpful websites include:
- NHTSA’s site walks through the process of selecting and installing child safety seats and can help you find installation and inspection stations: https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle-safety/car-seats-and-booster-seats#installation-help-inspection
- The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment site has an easy-to-follow guide on what seat you should use at which growth stage: https://cdphe.colorado.gov/babies/car-seat-safety
- Safe Kids Colorado Springs can help you find an inspection station: https://www.safekids.org/coalition/safe-kids-colorado-springs; there’s also a Safe Kids Colorado: https://www.safekids.org/coalition/safe-kids-colorado
Researched and written by Sue McMillin