Injury Prevention

As the busy travel season quickly approaches, the following tips will keep the entire family safe, whether you’re on the road or in the air.

Traveling by car:

Keep babies in the back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats (CSS), until they are at least 1 year and 20 pounds-longer if the seat allows it.
When children outgrow their rear-facing seats they should ride in a forward-facing CSS, in the back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat (usually 40-65 pounds, depending on model).
Once children reach the maximum weight or height of their seat, they should ride in a booster seat, in the back seat, using a lap and shoulder belt until they are approximately 4’9” tall.
At 4'9” children can use the seat belt in the back seat, if the lap belt is across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt rests comfortably across the chest.
Every passenger should buckle up whether they’re in the front seat or back seat!

Make sure your child safety seat (CSS) is government approved and has the label indicating, "This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft" printed on it.
Measure the width of your CSS. It should fit in most airplane seats if it is no wider than 16 inches.
A CSS should be placed in a window seat so it will not block the escape path in an emergency. Do not place a CSS in an exit row.

Always follow the manufacturer's instructions when using a CSS.

Source: Federal Aviation Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

In the United States, more than 4,700 pedestrians died from traffic-related injuries in 2003, and another 70,000 received nonfatal injuries. On average, a pedestrian is injured every 8 minutes, and killed every 2 hours.
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