ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Research from AAA revealed a concerning trend where parents or caregivers are transitioning their child to a booster seat or adult seat belt too soon.
AAA and the National Safety Council (NSC) released a safety alert for parents.
AAA analyzed five years of government crash data and discovered child seat and booster use declines after a child turns three, despite the continued need for these safety devices.
In Florida, 25.3% of parents and caregivers transitioned their children to a booster seat too soon, and 93.5% transitioned children to an adult seat belt too soon.
AAA said more than four million children ages 11 and under were involved in car crashes from 2018 to 2022, resulting in 547,000 injuries and nearly 3,000 fatalities.
Petra Stanton is an Injury Prevention Program Manager at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital. She checks car seats and booster seats to ensure they are properly installed.
"It might be surprising to majority of parents or the public, but what we see is the parents are looking forward to the graduation step, right, oh, my baby moved on to the next step, but with car seats, people should really take more time than that and utilize that five point harness as long as the weight or height limit of the seat allows," said Stanton.
Stanton said at the hospital, she follows the guidance from The American Academy of Pediatrics and parents should read the manual that comes with the car seat.
"They shouldn't be in a booster seat before they are four years old and forty pounds and then they should stay in the booster seat until they fit the seat belt correctly," said Stanton.
According to the National Digital Car Seat Check Form (NDCF) database, of the car seats inspected in 2023, 74% were not used properly or incorrectly installed. The three most common misuses were:
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Car seat installation is too loose.
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Not using the tether when installing a forward-facing car seat with either the lower anchors or seat belt.
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The harness is too loose when securing a child in a car seat.
If you’re not sure when to move your child to the next type of car seat, look to these stages:
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Rear-facing safety seat: Children should stay rear-facing as long as possible, up to the limits of the car safety seat. This includes almost all children under 2.
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Forward-facing safety seat, with harness: Many seats can take children up to 60 pounds or more. When they are ready and exceed the seat’s limits, move to a belt-positioning booster seat.
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Belt-positioning booster seat: Use until the vehicle’s lap and shoulder seat belts fit properly—generally when children are at least 4 feet, 9 inches tall (usually 8 to 12 years old).
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Front seat versus back seat: All children younger than 13 should be restrained in the rear seats. Young children riding in the front seat can be injured or even killed if an air bag opens.
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital encourages parents to get their child's car seat checked to make sure it's installed properly. For more information, click here
Pasco County Fire Rescue is offering a free car seat check on Saturday, September 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fire Station 13. For more information, click here.
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