Protecting Your Most Precious Cargo in a Pennsylvania Crash – Your Children

As parents, we do everything we can to protect our children from harm. We teach them how to properly cross the street to avoid danger. We teach them not to talk to strangers. Unfortunately, some things are out of our control, including car accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA), more than 1,000 children 12 years old and younger are killed in motor vehicle accidents every year. Another 100,000 are injured in crashes annually. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 14 years old.

While we might not be able to prevent a Pennsylvania car accident, we can reduce the risk of injury to our children.

One of the best ways to protect your child in the event of a crash is to ensure that he or she is using the appropriate restraint, whether a rear-facing seat or adult belt. It is also important that your children ride in the backseat, to improve their safety.

Is Your Child Secured Properly?
The guidelines for child restraints have recently been updated. Below are details regarding age-appropriate restraints.

• Ages 0 to 12 Months: At this age, your child should be in a rear-facing seat. A rear-facing seat might be an infant seat or convertible car seat. You should keep your child in this type of restraint for as long as possible, since it reduces the stress on the neck and spinal cord in an accident.
• Ages 1 to 3 Years: When your child reaches the height or weight limit of the rear-facing seat, you will need to move onto a forward-facing car seat with harness. This seat will limit movement in the event of a crash.
• Ages 4 to 7 Years: If your child has grown too big for the forward-facing car seat, you will need to look into a booster. According to the NHTSA, a booster seat “positions the seat belt so that it fits properly over the stronger parts of your child’s body.”
• Ages 8 to 12 Years: At this age, your child should still ride in the backseat. If he or she is big enough to fit properly in an adult seat belt, it means you may no longer need the booster. The lap belt must fit snugly across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt should go across the shoulder and chest.

When an Accident Happens
If you or your child has been hurt in a car accident, you need to find out if you are entitled to compensation. For answers to your questions, contact a Philadelphia car accident attorney from the law firm of Cooper & Schaffer.

For more information, contact us today at 888-545-4755 or filling out our online form.

Be sure to order a FREE copy of one of our informative books, Seven Ways to Destroy your New Jersey Personal Injury Case or Seven Ways to Destroy your Pennsylvania Personal Injury Case.