Child Safety in a Car

Child Safety in a Car 

Getting a car is not an requirements except if you are in a family, one of the biggest dangers to children is being involved in a car crash, 95% of car owners are involved in a family or were caused to buy for their carriage for family. Given that cars are infamously loud for being involved in fatalities and if lucky, accidents, children under 14 are highly susceptible and in 2009, there were 1,314 reported deaths as a result of traffic collision and far more than 179,000 children under 14 were rather injured in the same year and are exponentially rising in these following years up until now. 

In 2018, 636 12-year olds or younger died and more than 97,000 were injured which means that every 9 seconds one child dies on American roads when driving. This statistic may not seem high but it's shocking enough for people to want some change so kids can get home safe and damage among kids are drastic both physical and mental that collateralize to its parents through financial and even more strong emotional damage. 

Car crash statistics among children 

According to Safe Ride for Kids

• In year 2017, almost 800 kids were reportedly been casualties as an occupant in a motor vehicle. 
• Hispanic and black kids (45%) are found out to be unbuckled during a car ride compared to white kids (26%). 
• In respect with ages, children in range of 8-12 years old were not buckled in a trip compared to younger years (4-7 years old) in year 2016 to 2018.
• In a study, it is found that 45% of these unbuckled kids voluntarily to do so or refused to be buckled. 

An observation by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that almost 50% of population of road users with child occupant has misutilizing child-only seatbelts and restraints that heightened the said risk and even more possibilities of worsening the expected outcome such as 61% of forward-facing car seats and 24% of backless belt-positioning boosters that has been reportedly to be involved in some damages. 

Susceptibility

In 1975, infant car occupants faced an 80 percent greater chance of death in a crash compared to older child passengers. Yet year after year these numbers have been steadily declining until there were nearly as many fatalities among younger babies as their elder counterparts; which was nothing short of miraculous given how great danger they'd previously faced relative to everyone.

In that year, infants (younger than 1) had a much higher passenger vehicle occupant fatality rate per capita than children of other ages. However, this gap narrowed over the years with rates dropping 77% for infants since then and 75% for kids of all age groups from 4 to 12-years old during the same time span. The trend continues on its downward slope even today so that now it is only 10%.

Common Child Car Seat Mistakes 

These are the common car seat mistakes that parents and guardians should avoid for their child (under 8 years old) occupant's safety according to Mayo Clinic:

• Placement in the wrong spot - Never place your child seat in front of the car, the safest and optimal would be at the back as it is away from airbags and hard spots. 
• Situating near toys, sharp objects and heavy wear from the child - While traveling, there are instances of encountering with a pothole or bumps and it would potentially put the child's safety at risk since these things mentioned are volatile and are dependent with motion.
• Incorrect installation of the car seat or awkward buckling for the child - This would cause to fall off when on a sudden stop or impact. 

How are children's safety in car seat situated itself in the current?

Given that these facts are gathered around 2020:

• Car seats reduce injury risk by 71-82% when compared with buckling up just with a seat belt.
• Booster seats can cut serious injury rates by 45% for ages 4-8.
• For older children and adults, seat belt use reduces the risk for death and serious injury by approximately 50%--according to new research from recent years that has flown under records. 

According to statistics provided by IIHS, wherein cases of involvement of kids are decreasing by hundreds every year and is still continuing to decline as the creation of countermeasures and equipments apt for them, we can confidently say that our children's safety are secured as long as standard countermeasure and safety for driving is sternly adhered by someone who's incharge in driver's seat. 

If you or your loved one has been injured because of someone else's negligence, recklessness, carelessness and other wrongful actions that have led to an injury then contact a personal injury lawyer. They will help make sure the negligent party is held accountable for their actions as their side would be covering your medical bills and other financial responsibilities in relation with the accident happened with compensation pay.  

Ryan LLP law firm is ready to help victims who have suffered serious injuries because of someone else's negligence. We are prepared to handle the case, whether you're a commercial truck driver that has been in an accident due to faulty brakes or if you've been injured as a passenger when your car crashed into another vehicle on the highway.