As part of our ongoing relationship with Children’s Hospital Boston, NSTAR would like to provide the following motor vehicle tips.
The following tips will help you keep your children safe while traveling in a car:
- All children 12 and under must ride in the back seat. This is the safest place for children.
- Infants should ride in rear-facing child safety seats until they’re at least 1-year-old and 20 pounds in weight. Never place a rear-facing seat in front of an airbag.
- Once a toddler is over 1-year-old and between 20 and 40 pounds, they’re ready for a toddler or convertible seat.
- After outgrowing toddler seats, children are still not ready for adult seat belts alone. To make seat belts fit snuggly, young children over 40 pounds, between 4 and 8-years-old and shorter than 4’9” need booster seats.
- Make sure seat belts fit properly. They should be worn with the lap portion of the belt low and tight across the hips, and with the shoulder portion across the shoulders without cutting across the face and neck.
- Did you know 90 percent of child safety seats aren’t used correctly? When in doubt, call your local police station to make an appointment with a certified child passenger safety technician who can tell you whether you are using yours right.
- If you are taking your child in a taxi, call ahead and make sure the taxi has working seat belts. If the taxi company cannot provide a car seat, bring your own.
- Do not purchase a secondhand child safety seat. If you do not know the history of the seat, assume it isn’t safe.
- Always mail in the registration card that comes with your child safety seats so you’ll hear about potential product recalls. A list of recalled seats is available on the U.S. Office of Defects Investigation web site.
- Do not use a car seat that has been in a motor vehicle crash.
- Make sure to set a good example by wearing your seat belt too! Remember, Massachusetts law requires that you and your child are restrained every time you ride in your car.
According to the Children’s Hospital Boston Injury Prevention Program, more than 3,000 children die each year and 300,000 are injured in motor vehicle related incidents.
