| Can you name the most important safety | | | | for strap angles apply. |
| feature in your car? Is the air bags? No. | | | | |
| Perhaps it's the braking system? No again. | | | | 40 Pounds. The threshold for using a booster |
| | | | seat is at forty pounds, and they can be used |
| The most important safety feature in your car | | | | until your child is about eight years old, or |
| is the under-appreciated, often overlooked, | | | | a maximum of 4'9" tall (by the time they hit |
| sometimes intentionally avoided safety belt. | | | | that age, they'll be objecting to the booster |
| As a child, you probably hated fastening your | | | | pretty strenuously). At this point you can |
| own seatbelt. As an adult, you may find | | | | use the lap and shoulder belt, but make sure |
| yourself having to coax your own children to | | | | the straps don't go across the neck, face or |
| wear theirs. Don't give up! Safe passengers | | | | arm - serious injury can occur if they do. |
| grow up to be safer drivers, and seat belts | | | | (If your car has a lower setting for the |
| are a crucial element of automobile safety. | | | | seatbelt, use it.) |
| | | | |
| It's easy to remind you to make your child | | | | 0 |
| wear a seat belt, but in addition to merely | | | | |
| buckling it, there are other things you | | | | The Big Chair. The normal adult restraint |
| should know about keeping your children safe | | | | system is allowable once your child reaches |
| when they are passengers in your car. Here, | | | | that 4'9" height, and is over eight years |
| then, are some tips, courtesy of the National | | | | old. Again, you need to make sure the straps |
| Highway Safety Administration (NHSA): | | | | are never across the stomach or neck. Also, |
| | | | never allow your child (or any passenger) to |
| Kids in the Back Seat - Children under the | | | | put the shoulder strap behind their back. The |
| age of twelve should always sit in the back | | | | lap restraint alone is not enough. |
| seat, so they are far away from the air bags. | | | | |
| While an air bag can save an adult's life, | | | | Most modern cars now come fitted with a |
| the force of their deployment, and the height | | | | tethering system for car seats, and the |
| at which they deploy, can seriously harm a | | | | option to lower the position of shoulder |
| small child. | | | | straps. You can also buy belt guards for use |
| | | | with smaller adults and older children that |
| Infant Seats.. Babies under a year old, and | | | | help keep the seatbelt in the correct |
| under twenty-two pounds should be in a | | | | position. If you're using any of these |
| rear-facing infant seat secured into the back | | | | devices, make sure you read all the product |
| seat of the car, and if you only have a | | | | information first. |
| two-seat car, it's important to de-activate | | | | |
| the passenger-side airbag if a child seat | | | | The most important safety feature (other than |
| will be there. Also, never have the | | | | the seatbelt) however, is you. Institute the |
| restraints higher than shoulder level, or at | | | | rule that the car will not move until |
| an angle greater than 45 degrees. | | | | everyone is belted in, and enforce it. You'll |
| | | | be safer for it, and so will your children. |
| Face Forward. When your infant becomes a | | | | For general information on the proper use of |
| toddler, and reaches a minimum of twenty | | | | child restraint devices, always consult the |
| pounds, you can put them in a forward-facing | | | | instructions that come with your child safety |
| car seat (though it should still be secured | | | | seat, as well as the information provided by |
| in the back seat of the car.) The same rules | | | | your vehicle's owner's manual. |