Good Beginnings 12: Surprising Facts and Tips on Automobile Child Safety Restraints To Be Featured

This week, First 5 LA and “Good Beginnings” report on children and car safety.

Part of an ongoing series of TV news segments on early learning, health and safety, this week’s installments will provide expert advice to parents and caregivers on how to properly restrain infants and young children in vehicles.

Each day, five children are killed in automobile accidents in the U.S. and another 586 are injured in cars daily, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Officials say that many of these deaths and injuries are preventable with proper safety restraints, but half of the children who died last year weren’t restrained, and 85-95 percent of infant and child car seats are improperly installed, says the California Highway Patrol.

“There 100 different types of car seats and parents need to be aware of how to choose one that fits their vehicle and their child, and then properly install and use it each and every time they start up the engine,” said Norm Kellems, a Los Angeles Police officer who specializes in carseat safety.

Five Tips for Car Safety

1. Select the correct type of seat for your car and your child’s age and weight.

2. Place children in the back seat in the proper car seat or booster until at least age 6 or 60 lbs.

3 Read the carseat manual, install as directed, and mail in your warranty to be notified of recalls.

4. Avoid used carseats, since they may no longer function properly and discard carseats that are expired or older than 10 years.

5. Use rear-facing seats for babies until at least a year and 22 lbs. to provide head and neck support.