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CHILDHOOD INJURY
PREVENTION
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Injury
prevention |
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Community
Education |
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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 are about 4 feet 9 inches 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:
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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.
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Belt-positioning
boosters raise children so that the safety belt fits
correctly. They should always be used with a lap/shoulder belt.
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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.
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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 30% among
children 12 and younger.
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Buckle up! A new
Texas law requires children younger than 5 to ride in a booster or
car seat and children less than 17 years old are required to use their seat
belts.
Call the Texas Children’s Childhood Injury Prevention Team at
832-828-1312.
Return to
main page of Texas Children's Center for
Childhood Injury Prevention
  
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