NBC29Child Car Restraint Debate

Child Car Restraint Debate

Authors of a new book say seat belts work just as well as car seats on children two years or older.  The book is called "SuperFreakonomics," but not all safety professional agree with the authors. 

Car crashes are the number one cause of death among children ages three to six.  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety routinely tests the effectiveness of car seat restraints at its testing facility in Ruckersville.  

"A number of studies have looked at what is the effectiveness of child restraints in reducing deaths and it's very high, we're talking on the order of 70 to 80 percent reduction in the likelihood of dieing in a crash," said Adrian Lund, President of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.  

Lund says seat belts aren't designed for children.  "Adult belts don't fit perfectly so we, in crashes, see injuries to the children that you wouldn't necessarily expect for restrained adults and that's because the belts don't fit them," he stated.

In Virginia, children up to eight must use a child restraint and it's important to install them correctly. Infants should be rear-facing up until a year old and weigh at least 20 pounds.  For children facing forward, it's important for the harness to be at or above the shoulders. 

"The actual routes of convertible seats are secured to it can only fit in a certain way, so that's why there are two different belt paths and a common mistake is to use the same belt path for rear facing verses forward facing," said Donna Walker, Albemarle County Fire Rescue.

Albemarle County Fire Rescue will show you the correct way of installing a car seat.  Call 434-531-6614 to make an appointment.

Reported by Jennifer Von Reuter
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