Give Your Kids a Safety Boost

Size Over Age
Booster seats work so well because they elevate a child so the vehicle's lap or shoulder belts fit properly. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that children graduate to a booster seat when they reach 40 pounds and remain in one until they reach a height of 57 inches. Some children would not reach that height cut off until they are older than eight years.


In 2001 only 2 states, California and Washington, required children from 4 to 8 ride in booster seats. Today, 22 states and the District of Columbia have booster seat laws that require older children to use these child safety seats.


If children are riding in a vehicle without a backseat, NHTSA reminds parents that they should turn off the airbag in the front passenger seat. Only 48 percent of parents turn off the airbag for children 4- to 8-years old, while 86 percent turn the airbag off for children using rear-facing child seats. More than 12 million pickup trucks and a smaller number of passenger cars and cargo vans without rear seats are equipped with airbag on-off switches. Proper use of the switches requires drivers to turn the air bag off for children 12 and under but activate it when the passenger seat is occupied by an adult.

Tips for Parents:
> Restrain children on every trip;


> Use the rear seat for all children under age 13;