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Millions of American families hit the nation’s highways each summer on a quest to enjoy that perfect summer vacation. Unfortunately, a number of families also have that vacation interrupted by an auto accident.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a significant number of children killed each year in car crashes were unrestrained. Their statistics show that in 2006, about 50 percent of the 1,535 children under the age of 15 that were killed in auto accidents did not have any kind of seat restraint device in use. In addition, 63 percent of fatalities in the 16-20 year-old age group were not wearing seat belts.
The NHTSA also estimates that in 2006, over 15,000 children over the age of four were saved because they were wearing a seat belt.
In addition, NHTSA statistics from 2008 show that the use of child safety seats in passenger cars cut the risk of fatalities for infants by 71 percent and for toddlers by 54 percent. The agency says that there are four ways to protect your children while driving, during summer vacation time or any time:
• For infants, use rear-facing child safety seats
• For toddlers, use forward-facing child safety seats
• For children between the ages of 4 and 8, use booster seats
• For children over the age of 8, use seat belts
For more information on protecting your children in the car, visit http://www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/CPS.