This year’s Child Passenger Safety Week is quickly approaching. The purpose of Child Passenger Safety Week is to highlight the ways in which parents can protect their little bundles of joy when driving. If your child or another loved one is injured in a car accident, do not move forward without legal assistance. Reach out to our Albuquerque car accident lawyers for help in the aftermath of the accident. We will work tirelessly to ensure you are provided with the appropriate level of compensation for medical expenses, pain, suffering and other losses.
Protect Your Precious Passengers
Child Passenger Safety Week commences September 17. It extends to Saturday, September 23, which is National Seat Check Saturday. The importance of this week cannot be overstated. A car crash is one of the top causes of death for children between the ages of one and 13. An incredible number of child injuries and deaths can be prevented with the proper use of car seats, boosters and seat belts. You can obtain safety materials at no cost from the Child Passenger Safety Week website.
How to Protect Your Little Riders
It is imperative that you select the car seat or booster that is appropriate for your child. There are three styles of car seats:
- Booster seats
- The rear-facing variety
- Also, the forward-facing variety
Though there are several different models to select, each car seat must meet the same United States federal safety requirements. In general, parents should rely on a rear-facing seat until the age of two.
Once the child reaches this age, it might be necessary to switch from a fairly small rear-facing car seat to a larger rear-facing car seat. If your child is at or beyond the weight limit for such a seat, segue to the larger forward-facing convertible seat with a 5-point harness along with a top tether. Parents should keep their children in a rear-facing seat for as long as they can as such a seat lets your child’s spine, neck and head move evenly into the seat rather than away from it during a front-end crash.
Make sure your child fits in the seat you select with ease. The harness should fit snugly around your little one’s shoulders and also hips. Once your child grows too large or heavy for the car seat harness, change to a booster seat.
Booster Seat Information Every Parent Should Know
Booster seat shoulder straps should fit tightly across your child’s chest and shoulders as opposed to the neck or face. The lap belt must lie along the top of your child’s legs or low against the hips rather than the stomach. Always adhere to the seat belt guides provided by the booster seat. If the booster seat can’t be used as the manufacturer recommends, resort to the car seat with a harness.
Seat Belt Safety
Rear-facing car seats should have shoulder straps that move through the car seat slots below or at the child’s shoulders. Forward-facing seats should have shoulders traps at or slightly above the shoulders. If your little one can’t sit in a comfortable and safe manner, do not hesitate to use the booster seat.
Albuquerque Car Crash Lawyers are on Your Side
Injured in a car accident? Our Albuquerque car crash lawyers will prove essential to your quest for justice and compensation. Our usual office hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and we will also take your phone call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Give us a call at (505) 544-4444. You can also use our website’s LiveChat feature to contact our professionals.