Child Passenger Safety advocates get a little nuts at times. So do researchers. It’s great to have a statistic to throw around. I sure like them. Sometimes the studies that produce these statistics are good. Other times they are not. For example, perhaps a study trumpets that some risk is 5 times lower for one thing vs. another. That’s great, unless the actual risk is astronomically low to begin with. Five times zero is still zero. Or maybe they gloss over the fact that there really weren’t enough data points to draw solid conclusions. Other studies try to shock you about some relatively minor risk by using the overall motor vehicle fatality numbers. Also not very scientific. Sometimes the studies don’t even agree. One study says a booster is the way to go, another says a seatbelt and a DVD player is just as safe. One says the center seat is safer, another says rear outboard seats are about as safe. Almost no studies consider correct use of child restraints, an issue that is relevant to many advocates whose children are properly restrained.
Who and what should we believe?
It’s pretty simple.
1) Properly restrain your kids.
If they are an infant, they should be rear facing. If they are a toddler, they should be in a 5-point harness. Older kids should be in a booster until a lap/shoulder seatbelt fits them correctly. Make sure to read the instructions and install and use the child restraint properly. The majority of fatal injuries are to kids who are unrestrained or improperly restrained. Should your 2-year old be front-facing or rear-facing? Should your 6 year old be in a harness or booster? Is Brand A safer than Brand B? As long as they are properly restrained, you’ve cut their risks so much that these other issues are most likely to be relatively insignificant.
2) Put them in the back seat.
Second row, third row, center, outboard, LATCH or seatbelt; all valid questions. Even so, if they are properly restrained in an appropriate rear seating position, these other factors are also relatively minor in comparison.
3) Don’t drive distracted or impaired.
This is another huge risk. Alcohol. Drugs. Cell phones. Eating. Whatever you are doing that takes a hand off the wheel or your concentration off the road is a big factor, too. You can spend $100,000 on what a commercial tells you is the “safest” luxury car and $400 on a child seat and pay the best Child Passenger Safety Technician or Instructor $100 to install it for you. Doesn’t make a difference if you aren’t paying attention to what the other driver is doing.
Sometimes we lose sight of these three issues when it comes to safely restraining our kids. It’s fine to debate the smaller details. There’s no harm in wanting our kids to be as safe as possible. You can keep them indoors in a padded room, too. But now that you know what is really important, you won’t have to lose sleep when the next study shows that your child is 2x more likely to die in a child restraint in a floral pattern than one with a solid color.
So maybe you have a son who is 32 months old and weighs 32 pounds. You know he’s restrained properly in his 7-point harness, Titanium frame child seat with super side impacto cushioning, each and every trip. That seat is installed so tightly, your husband has burn marks on his palms from pulling on the straps. When he rocked the carseat to check, your entire 8,000 pound Earth Destroyer SUV moved, too. Not to mention that you have a spotless driving record and your family truckster SUV has 10-star safety ratings and 14 airbags to go along with its state of the art collision detection anti-vehicle missile system. The only time you have ever been drinking and driving is after a Starbucks drive-through, and even then you only take a sip at stoplights! Cell phone? Hands-free, and you still pull over to the side of the road to talk. Not even a flying pig could get your eyes off the road or your hands from the 10-and-2 driving position. Given all that, is turning your son back to rear-facing really going to make any statistically significant difference in his risk of fatal injury, let alone his risk of getting a scratch? Good luck finding a study relevant to your situation!
It’s still fun to debate the finer points of CPS over at Car-Seat.Org, of course. Even if you just want to discuss the merits of comparing per capita traffic fatality rates between Russia and Malta.
Please have a safe 2009 from CarseatBlog!
The Brand of carseat has very little to do with it being any safer than any other child restraint on the market. So, do we assume that if we pay 300+ dollars on a car seat that it is truly better that another? Simply put, not necessarily! If that restraint is not properly installed it is just as well to just put them in a seatbelt, strap them in and go. And quite frankly who would be that careless?
William
Certified Child Passenger Tech
Interesting post. I love it when you guys break it down to the basics. Yes, extended everything is great, but really–your (our) kids are safer if you make sure they’re safe in the first place.
And you know not only are floral patterned car-seats two times more deadly than solid colored ones, they are also like totally 5 times more likely to give a boy cooties. And cooties are bad.
The reminder about paying attention is a good one. I’m guilty of it myself, sometimes, not paying 100% attention, and that’s just stupid of me.
LOL. Thanks that was great!
Could you include the link for the “Titanium frame child seat with super side impacto cushioning” that you mentioned in your blog. It sounds like exactly what I am looking for for my son who is outgrowing his Roundabout.
You actually can buy 7-point harnesses for your car; they’re used for racing.
Our state’s anti-texting-while-driving law just went into effect. I pointed out the electronic sign saying so to my husband and he asked, “Who texts while driving???” But apparently some people do… Scary.
Am I the only one who had fun imagining the different ways a 7-point harness could be constructed? LOL!
Hi Jools!
A poll is definitely the most scientific way to find out exactly how much safer a high back booster is compared to a no-back one. Please let us know your findings!
As for school buses, you might want to check out this blog https://carseatblog.com/?p=110 .
If you’re a pro, you can eat a cheeseburger while keeping both hands on the wheel AND your eyes on the road, so no worries there! On the other hand, writing a comment on our blog from your iPhone is not easy do do while driving, so stop that!
Hmmm… this is NOT helping me decide if my 9 year old would be safer outboard in a highback booster or center in a no-back booster. Maybe I should go post a poll…. (and heck, she barely ever rides in my van anyway, is she safe on her school bus without seatbelts?). Either way, I’ll hang up and put down the cheeseburger and drive carefully 🙂
You make the true point very clear… sure… give the info to try to decrease risk of injury even more… but don’t flame people over it, when there are bigger walls to bust through first.
Bwhahahahahahahah! Now I’m disappointed by minivan doesn’t come with an anti-vehicle missile system. :p