Children and Car Seat Safety

Car seats are an important safety feature for transporting children in any vehicle. They help to keep children secure in the car and reduce the risk of injury in case of an accident. Depending on your child’s size, it may be best to keep him or her in a car seat until age 4 or 5, or even older in some cases. If you are involved in a car accident, the seat harness will help to restrain your child and minimize the impact of the collision. Knowing how to properly secure your child in a car seat can help to prevent the risk of a serious injury.

Securing Your Child

A child’s weight and age are the primary factors for deciding whether or not to use a car seat, what type of seat to use, and how it should be oriented within the car. The following is a list of child restraint recommendations based on weight and age, provided by the Department of Public Safety:

• At least one year old and at least 20 pounds: Use a rear-facing infant seat.
• More than 1 year old and less than 40 pounds: Use a forward-facing seat with a harness.
• Ages 4 to 8, at least 40 pounds: Use a forward-facing booster seat to help position the seat belt properly. If your child is taller than 4′ 9”, a booster may no longer be needed.

Children are safest when their car seats are facing the rear of the vehicle, but as they grow older they can no longer comfortably sit in a car seat that is oriented backwards. As a child grows, it is important to continually adjust or upgrade the car seat or booster seat to meet his or her needs. All children under the age of 12 should ride in the back seat of the vehicle to maximize their safety.

Contact Us

Like car seats, car insurance is an important form of protection against accidents that no parent should be without. For information on finding an affordable auto insurance policy that meets your family’s needs, contact the Chicago car insurance agents of Insure on the Spot today at 888-972-SAVE.