Transporting children safely

By: Drivers.com staff

Date: Monday, 19. March 2007

The question of adequate seat restraints for young children has emerged once again with a nightmare collision in Quebec, Canada, in which seven preschool infants were killed and three injured, one seriously.

The dead children ranged in age from two to five. The driver's son was among those killed. All of the victims died of multiple head and abdominal injuries, according to doctors.

One child seat was found at the scene. The minivan, designed to carry a driver and six passengers, had been carrying 10 children so obviously not all of them were restrained.

The children were being transported in a late-model minivan along a rural road when the driver, a daycare operator, hit a patch of ice and lost control, skidding sideways to collide with another minivan travelling in the opposite direction. As many as eight children were thrown from the vehicle.

Children Often Not Restrained

The tragedy highlights a recurring safety problem. The U.S.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that in spite of extensive publicity aimed at getting children restrained and riding in the rear seats of vehicles, observational surveys in three states show many children still riding unrestrained. Other children are improperly restrained or riding in the front seats of cars equipped with passenger airbags.

Institute researchers observed motor vehicle seating positions and restraint use among children ages 12 and younger in Michigan, North Carolina, and Texas during the spring and summer of 1998. Overall 64 to 75 per cent of all children were using either a child restraint or safety belt, but many of the belted children were improperly restrained. That is, they were using the shoulder portion of the belt system behind the back or under the arm.

Admittedly, parents find this a common problem because seat belts are specifically designed for adults and the shoulder part could actually do more harm than good were it wrapped around the child's neck on impact. The alternative, of course, is properly installed and approved child's car seat.

The IIHS researchers found that restraint use varies according to children's ages and whether they're sitting in front or rear seats. "Of particular concern are the three to six-year-olds," says Institute research vice president Susan Ferguson. "About half of all children in this age group in North Carolina were observed riding unrestrained or improperly restrained in the front seat - this in a state where adult belt use is close to 85 per cent. Because so many children this age travel unrestrained or improperly restrained in front seats, it probably shouldn't come as a surprise that a high proportion of the deaths from deploying airbags among children one to 11 years were three to six year olds."

Overall, fewer children were observed riding in the front seats of cars with passenger airbags, compared with cars that don't have such airbags. In all three states, about 16-20 per cent of three to six year olds were sitting in the front seats of vehicles with passenger airbags. The percentage was higher - about a third - among seven to 12 year olds and fewer than 10 per cent among children two and younger.

The problem of riding up front may become more dangerous as today's cars with passenger airbags reach the resale market. "Then if parents who got used to letting kids ride up front in cars without passenger airbags continue to do this, many more children will be at risk of injury from deploying airbags," Ferguson points out.

Children aren't riding in front seats because it's the only place for them to sit. The rear seats were unoccupied more than two-thirds of the time when children were observed sitting in front, and about 20 percent of the time there was only one person sitting in the rear.

All states have mandatory child restraint laws. However, children four and older often are covered by adult safety belt laws, most of which apply to front-seat occupants only and provide for secondary enforcement. This means that officers cannot stop motorists for belt violations alone.

Excellent Advice

The Canadian Automobile Association provides excellent advice on child restraints. It points out, for example, that an adult's arms are just not strong enough to hold on to a child during a collision. The forces of the collision are too strong and the weight of the adult can crush a child.

"When a vehicle stops suddenly, the passengers move with speed and force toward the point of impact. An unrestrained child may be thrown head first into the dashboard, the windshield, the back of the front seat, or out of the vehicle through windows or doors," the CAA says.

"Due to the small size of children, they may not benefit from the built-in safety features inside the vehicle. On impact, children are more likely than adults to strike the inside of the vehicle with their face and head. This can cause serious injury.

"When the head strikes something, the brain floats and "bumps" into the skull, causing swelling and pressure on the brain. Severe head injuries can cause death or result in brain damage causing physical and/or mental disabilities."

Risk Reduced by 90%

The CAA says it's been estimated that when correctly used and installed, child car seats can reduce deaths by about 90 per cent and injuries by 70 per cent.

"Children need the special protection they get from child car seats. Their soft bone structures, weaker muscles, heavy heads and smaller bodies expose them to risk of injury in vehicles," it adds.

At present, Canada has a More than 90 per cent seat belt use rate by drivers. Unfortunately, the same high rating has not been achieved for children. A 1994 study prepared by Transport Canada showed that only about 63 per cent of Canadian children are being restrained in child car seats or vehicle seat belts. Child restraint clinics/safety checks held across the country show that only 20 to 25 per cent of seats inspected are used and installed correctly.

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