St. George dealership to help parents address leading cause of death among children with safety checks

Stock image | Photo by HStarr/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

ST. GEORGE —  Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children under the age of 13 in the United States, and a Centers for Disease Control study found that using the proper restraint device can reduce the risk of death for these little ones by more than 70%.

Stock image | Photo by Monkeybusinessmages/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

In honor of “Child Passenger Safety” week that runs through the weekend , safety partners are hosting free classes and car seat checkpoints throughout the state – efforts geared towards educating the public on the importance of child safety.

To that end, law enforcement, firefighters and health officials have teamed up to encourage parents to prioritize their child’s safety by making sure they are properly restrained anytime they are in a motor vehicle. Every trip, every time.

One such partner, Findlay Subaru in St. George, is hosting an event to increase child safety by providing free car seat safety inspections to the public by a trained technician – efforts designed to ensure that all car seats and booster seats are properly installed and used correctly.

The event will be hosted at Findlay Subaru, located at 1453 Sunland Drive in St. George, on Sept. 30 from 2-6 p.m., said Karyn Keanaaina, marketing coordinator for Findlay Subaru.

Fatality facts and children 

Traffic deaths have steadily declined since 1970, when more than 3,600 children were killed in crashes across the United States, largely due to the rise in child safety restraint use.

Even so, traffic accidents still cause one out of every four injury deaths among children, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. 

At the same time, the proportion of fatally injured children who are restrained at the time has continued to rise significantly over the past three decades or so – from 15% in 1985 to 55% in 2020.

Image depicting “Be Smart About Car Seats” poster listing the importance of proper car seat use | Image courtesy of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital | St. George News

In 2020, more than 840 children were killed in traffic crashes across the country.

Based to one study, the older the child, the more likely they were to be unrestrained during a crash, with nearly half of all children ages 4-8 were unrestrained – compared to 33% of children 4-7 years old that were unrestrained.

Additionally, if the parent or driver does not wear a seat belt, then 40% of the children riding with them are also unrestrained.

Additionally, proper installation and use is also critical, considering that more than half of all child restraints are improperly used, according to a study by AAA, while another study by the Oregon Health and Science University Hospital showed an 80% rate of misuse.

Dr. Hilary Hewes, University  of Utah School of Medicine’s associate professor of pediatrics said in a statement recently released that deciding on the proper vehicle restraint for these little ones should be based on the child’s height and weight , which is far more effective in choosing the right restraint device, since “kids come in all shapes and sizes, even when they’re all the same age.”

In fact, a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that using the wrong seat for the child’s age and weight were the most common forms of misuse.

Once the child outgrows the front-facing car seat, then they should be secured in a booster seat, and skipping the booster seat too early is all too common, but is still unsafe.

Research suggests that booster seats lowers the risk of injury to children aged fourth through eight by more than 45% when compared to the use of seat belts alone.

The main reason for this is that seat belts are made for adults and are designed to fit across the strongest bones of the body – but not so with small children.

If the vehicle seat belt is placed across the child’s belly rather than below the hip bones, they could suffer internal damage or a spinal injury if a crash occurs. Consequently, a child is ready to transition out of  a booster seat when the seat belt properly hugs their hips and middle of their chest, which typically occurs when the child is approximately 4 feet 9 inches tall and weighs at least 100 pounds.

With this in mind, a car seat should be used until the child reaches the maximum height or weight limit before they are moved to the next stage.

Despite the efforts of manufacturers, national safety campaigns and child safety programs, many children, particularly those 4 and older, still ride unrestrained.

Many of these injuries and deaths can be prevented by placing children in size-appropriate car seats and booster seats, which reduces the risk of serious and fatal injuries by more than half, and a car seat safety inspection can ensure that these safety devices are being used properly.

In addition to the event at Findlay Subaru, there are three other locations in Washington County that offer FIT testing, including the St. George Police Department, the Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department and Southwest Center on Tabernacle in St. George. For more information go to ClickIt.utah.gov.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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