Georgia recognizes Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Think of all the car seats you see in vehicle backseats. Statistics say that one out of two of them are installed improperly.

Road injuries are the leading cause of death for children in the United States and Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week has a goal of reducing that number.

The mission of the week is pretty simple.

“It’s to highlight the importance of a child being in the proper restraint and that the restraint is correctly installed in that vehicle,” said Jaleiah Harmon, Georgia Department of Public Health.

When dealing with car seats, it all depends on the size of the passenger.

“The child’s age, height, weight and developmental level determine what type of car seat they should be riding in,” Harmon said.

Each year in the United States, more than 250 kids live to see another day because of the safety a properly installed child seat provides.

“It lessens the severity of their injuries by 71%,” Harmon explained.

For many parents, the question of when to move from one type of car seat to another is a big topic of discussion.

“So, the different ages - you want to make sure we keep a child rear-facing for as long as possible. The child should be riding rear-facing until the age of four. You want to move them into a forward facing seat once they’ve met the weight and the height limit for that rear-facing car seat that they’re in. Typically, a child doesn’t go into a seatbelt until they’re the height of 4′9”,” Harmon said.

There are places that offer virtual assistance to make sure you car seat is installed properly. For more information, click here.

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