Hispanic Children Less Likely to be Restrained While Riding in Cars

Washington, D.C. – More than 2,600 children under 13 are involved in a car crash daily. That’s one child every 33 seconds. While most families put kids in car seats, the latest research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows 59 percent of car seats are not installed correctly. To help more parents access expert advice to protect their children in cars, Safe Kids Worldwide is now offering its popular Ultimate Car Seat Guide in Spanish. Visit www.UltimateCarSeatGuide.org.

The Ultimate Car Seat Guide, developed with Chevrolet’s support, gives expert guidance to parents on the important decisions they face when choosing and using a car seat. The guide offers parent-friendly tips on which car seat to buy, how to fit a car seat, when to move to a new one and a basic installation guide.

“According to NHTSA, Hispanic children ages 4-7 are 14 percent less likely to be appropriately restrained in a car seat compared to white children,” said Lorrie Walker, Car Seat Expert, Safe Kids Worldwide. “The Ultimate Car Seat Guide provides life-saving information that we are excited to now make available to parents in Spanish.”

Further supporting NHTSA’s findings, new research from Safe Kids Worldwide, made possible in part by support from Chevrolet, reveals that 64 percent of car seats are not installed using the top tether. The tether secures the top of a car seat to the vehicle seat and keeps a forward-facing car seat from pitching forward in crash or sudden stop. Other common installation mistakes include the car seat and harness being too loose. The Ultimate Car Seat guide provides information to combat these and other common installation mistakes.

“Safety is of highest priority at Chevrolet and we are committed to helping parents keep their children safe on the road,” said Tricia Morrow, Chevrolet Safety Engineer. “Tools like the Ultimate Car Seat Guide and ongoing research offer parents potentially life-saving information that is easy to use and easy to apply in everyday life. We are proud to partner with Safe Kids Worldwide to make car seat safety information easily accessible.”

Download research report: “Car Seat Tethers: Essential for Safety but Consistently Overlooked”

About Safe Kids Worldwide

Safe Kids Worldwide is a nonprofit organization working to prevent childhood injury, the number one cause of death for children in the United States. Throughout the world, almost one million children die of an injury each year, and almost every one of these tragedies is preventable. Safe Kids works with an extensive network of more than 400 coalitions in the U.S. and with partners in more than 30 countries to reduce traffic injuries, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings and more. Since 1988, Safe Kids has helped reduce the U.S. childhood death rate from unintentional injury by 60 percent. Working together, we can do much more for kids everywhere. Join our effort at safekids.org