Booster seats not getting used, study finds

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=542003aa54ac07e3&cat=c08dd24cec417021

Majority of kids aged 4 to 8 go without car safety devices
Updated: 6:56 p.m. ET Jan. 25, 2005WASHINGTON - Just 40 percent of children aged 4 to 8 use car safety seats or booster seats at least occasionally — meaning that most children risk being thrown from the car in the case of an accident, according to a study released on Tuesday.



The study, published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, shows that many people driving children do not have booster seats, and feel the risk is acceptable because they are making only short trips.

“Emergency physicians cringe when we see a child riding unrestrained in a vehicle because we know if it crashes, the child will be hurled like a missile,” Dr. Herbert Garrison of East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., wrote in a commentary on the survey.

“The result for the child may be severe injury or death.”

more...

If ya don't use them ya need to think about starting!!!

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. I see people with small children in their cars all the time....

and bouncing around in the back seat...not even belted in.

The triplets are 4; they are always tightly strapped into their booster seats while in the minivan and never squawk about it.

[lovuian]

2. Thats awesome!!! I see them too bouncing around

and in a Booster seat they can see out the window!!!

[TahitiNut]

3. That's OK. They only have a "right to life" before they're born.

As long as the parents buy the booster seat, the corporatists are happy. After that, they're just 'opportunities' for the health care industry. :shrug:

Heck, get an SUV with TV screens and Game Boys. Maybe they'll think dying is just part of the game. :puke:
Heaven forbid that hurtling along a highway in 6,000 pounds of steel at 65 mph should be taken seriously.
Hell, Mom and Dad think it's a phone booth, so why not?

[Pirate Smile]

4. Mine are in their friggin seats or else - 3,6,7. Most kids I see are in

their car seats. You definitely notice if a kid isn't.

I can't believe it says only 40% of kids that age are in their seats. That shocks me and doesn't ring true with what I see everyday.

[Heddi]

5. I saw a car about 3 months ago

It was a normal-sized car...Hyundai-type.

2 adults in the front seat.

2 children on the lap of the adult in the passenger seat (children were small...as in 'young toddler small'

Back seat had...and I am not kidding...SEVEN KIDS squeezed in there. Not a single seat belt on any of them. Not a single car seat. Just all thrown in the back like groceries.

Of course the thing that got me the most was the (again, not kidding, not exaggerating) infant lying on the back dashboard.

I got the plate number, description of the car, went to payphone and called police. They were really uninterested in it. I said "There are TEN CHILDREN in a 5-person car, NO seat belts, NO child seats, and these kids are bouncing around the car like you wouldn't believe"

Operator, really snotty, said "Well, I guess you expect us to drive around the city until we find this car full of kids, right?" Uh, no...I expect you to run the tag number and send a letter...or something. Sheesh.....

[lovuian]

7. Heidii you did the right thing Thats endangering a child

What the operator shouldhave said have you filed this with Child Protection agency...cause they will have to check it out

You did good girl but go the extra mile and report them for Child endangerment!!!

[fshrink]

8. Reminds me of my childhood and all the fun...

Riding in the trunk and everything. Guess I was lucky uh?

[TahitiNut]

10. Me too. Except we called it a rumble seat.

:evilgrin:

[newscott]

6. My 7 year-old doesn't sit in a booster seat anymore

She uses the seat belt in the back. It's allowed in MA.

My 4-year-old is still in a car seat and will remain so, until she's big enough.

[lovuian]

9. It also depends on how tall and big the child is!!!

Seven is definitely borderline but its the 5 year olds thats the real ones who should be boostered!!!