New Recommendations for your Child's Car Seat to Prevent Injuries during Car Accidents in Kennett, Missouri and Elsewhere

Revised recommendations for your child's car seat have been recently released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. These new recommendations urge that you judge the amount of time your child stays in each of their child seat's based on their height and weight rather than their age. These new recommendations come as an attempt to keep up with the ever growing scientific and medical research and the development of newer and newer child restraint technologies.

The new guidelines ultimately suggest that parents and caregivers keep children in each type of car seat, including forward-facing, booster and rear-facing child seats, for as long as possible before moving them up to the next level. The extra time will help keep them even safer in the event of a car accident in Jackson, Charleston, Dexter or elsewhere in Missouri.

Our Cape Girardeau Missouri car accident attorneys understand the importance of keeping your child in the correct safety seat. Parents and caregivers are urged to keep their child in rear-facing safety seats for as long as possible. Keep them in these seats until they've exceeded the height and weight limits of that particular car seat. These limitations are provided by the seat's manufacturer. It is these rear-facing car seats that reduce the stress of the spinal cord and neck that can occur when involved in a motor-vehicle accident. This reduction is especially important for growing babies.

"Safety is our highest priority," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "The 'best' car seat is the one that fits your child, fits your vehicle and one you will use every time your child is in the car."

The guidelines are consistent with the more recent recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics. They advise that you keep your child passenger in their rear-facing car seat until they've reached the age of two or until they reach those height and weight limitations. Parents are urged to slow down their child's car seat graduations for as long as safely possible.

All car seats that are sold in the United States are required to meet a number of standards set forth in child restraint safety.

"Selecting the right seat for your child can be a challenge for many parents. NHTSA's new revised guidelines will help consumers pick the appropriate seat for their child," says NHTSA Administrator David Strickland.

Strickland also recommends that parents consider a number of factors aside from height and weight when choosing the perfect child seat for their vehicle. It is also urged that they consider their child's physical development and behavioral needs, as well the family's economics and type of vehicle.

Important safety measure to parents and their child's car seats:

-Be sure to read the manufacturers' instructions and the owner's manual of the vehicle for important information regarding the weight and height limitations for the car seat. These manuals will also instruct you on how to properly install the car seat, whether it's by a seat belt of by using the LATCH system.

-Parents should keep all children under the age of 13 in the back seat of the vehicle.

-Children in rear-facing car seats should never ride in front seat when there is an active passenger-side air bag.

More than 1,000 children under the age of 13 are killed in passenger-vehicle accidents every year. An additional 100,000 children are injured in these incidents, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

The IIHS offers a complete detailed report to help parents to safely buckle-in a child in their motor-vehicle. You can view this information through a number of informational pages and videos.