Children who have "graduated" from car safety seats to using lap and shoulder belts alone cause concern among Texas Children’s emergency physicians.
"Until children weigh about 80 pounds and are almost five feet tall, they do not fit seats in cars and seatbelt systems," said Dr. Joan Shook, chief of emergency medicine at Texas Children’s Hospital. "Children tend to tuck the shoulder belt behind them and slouch down in the seat so their legs bend over the seat edge. The lap belt slides over the tummy, so that in a car crash, the child’s abdominal organs may be crushed."
To help prevent deaths and injuries among children, the Texas Children’s Childhood Injury Prevention Team recommends the following:
Children should continue to use their convertible child safety seats until their ears reach the top of the back of the safety seat and their shoulders are above the top strap slots, or until they reach the upper weight limit of the seat.
Belt-positioning boosters to raise children so that the safety belt fits correctly. They should always be used with a lap/shoulder belt. Booster seats with high backs are best in vehicles without head support. Children who are at least 35" tall, should use the 5-point harness until they weigh 40 pounds. Then they can use the lap/shoulder belt to secure themselves and the booster seat. A shield booster should only be used when there is only a lap belt.
Child passengers under 12 years old should ride in the back seat whenever possible. This is especially important in cars with airbags. Sitting in the rear instead of the front reduces fatal injury risk by 36 percent among children 12 and younger.
Buckle up! Texas law requires children less than 17 years old to use their seat belts. All riders in the front seat must buckle up. All children younger than 4 years or less than 36 inches tall must ride in a car- or booster seat.
Call the Texas Children’s Childhood Injury Prevention Center at 832-824-2938, 832-824-2976, or 832-824-2939 (Spanish) for:
- tips on car seat installation
- toy recall lists
- to schedule talks to parent groups on child safety seat use
- to schedule puppet shows with BuckleBear for preschool children on car seat use
- to schedule puppet shows with Alex the Astronaut for K-second graders about booster seats.
