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Notice to Readers: National Child Passenger Safety Week, February
12--18, 2006
In 2004, a total of 424 children aged 4--8 years died and more than 70,000 were treated in emergency departments
for injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes in the United States
(1,2). The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) and ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø recommend the use of booster seats for children who weigh at least 40 pounds, are less than 4 feet
9 inches tall, and are aged 4--8 years (3). This year, National Child Passenger Safety Week, February 12--18, 2006, will
focus on booster seat use.
Despite increased attention and legislation governing booster seats, use of age-appropriate child restraints by passengers
aged 4--8 years continues to lag behind use by younger passengers. Although child safety seat use is greater than 90% for
infants and toddlers, booster seat use is estimated nationally at 10%--20%
(3). Thirty-three states have enacted laws governing
booster seat use, but only two states, Tennessee and Wyoming, have laws covering children through age 8 years.
Information about National Child Passenger Safety Week activities and child passenger safety is available from NHTSA
at and from ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø at
.
References
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) web-based encyclopedia. Available at
.
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø. WISQARS™ nonfatal injury reports. Available at
.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Improving the safety of older-child passengers: a progress report on reducing deaths and
injuries among 4- to 8-year-old child passengers. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation; 2005.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.References to non-ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
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