Road Safety Week Monday, June 13 – Sunday, June 19, 2016

Car Seats Save Lives

Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death in Canadian children over the age of one. If children are transported in properly installed and correctly used car seats, their risk of dying in a crash is greatly reduced.

From 2009-2013, in Saskatchewan, 990 children between the ages of 0-12 were injured and 12 were killed in car crashes. In a recent Saskatchewan study to check the installation of car seats, 81.4% of the seats were found to be improperly installed.

To provide the best protection, it is important that the correct car seat is used for the child’s age, size, and development. The Saskatchewan Prevention Institute provides information, education, and training on the appropriate use of car seats.

Infants must be placed in rear-facing car seats. They should stay in rear-facing seats as long as possible, as this is the safest way that they can travel. In a frontal crash, the infant’s neck, head, and back will be protected by the support of the back of the car seat. Some rear-facing seats have upper weight limits to 23 kg (50 lbs.).

Once a child is too tall or too heavy for a rear-facing car seat, the child should be moved to a forward-facing seat. Forward-facing seats have an internal harness with an upper weight limit of at least 18 kg (40 lbs.). The weight limit will be higher for many forward-facing seats, many up to 30 kg (65 lbs.). Again, it is important to keep the child in the forward-facing seat until the child’s weight or height exceeds its limits.

A booster seat is the next stage of protection for children. By law, a child must weigh at least 18 kg (40 lbs.) to use a booster seat. The law in Saskatchewan states that children must use a booster until age 7 or until they weigh 36 kg (80 lbs.) AND until they are 145 cm (4’9”) tall. The booster seat raises a child up so that the seat belt goes over the stronger, boney parts of the body – the hips, chest, and collarbone. Many children are taken out of booster seats far too early, putting them at risk of serious injury or death in a collision.

Car seats come with instructions and vehicle manuals include information on the correct installation of car seats in that particular vehicle. Sometimes, people need some help or assurance to make sure the car seat is correctly installed in the vehicle and fitting the child properly. The Saskatchewan Prevention Institute trains technicians across the province who provide education to parents and caregivers on how to use their car seats properly. For more information, contact the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute at 306-651-4300 or visit our website, www.skprevention.ca. To find a technician in your area, go to http://www.sgi.sk.ca/online_services/locators/carseattech/.

For more information, contact Travis Holeha at 306-651-4313, Kate Dunn at 306-651-4316 or Lee Hinton at 306-651-4318.