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