Child Passenger Safety Week aims to reduce child deaths on the road

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Child Passenger Safety Week is underway in North Carolina.

The awareness campaign runs between Sept. 21-27, and is focused on reducing child deaths on the road.

It has helped contribute to decreasing the number of kids dying in car crashes by over half since 1975.

Still, recent data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention shows that 700 kids under the age of 14 were killed across the country in 2023. Nearly half of them were not strapped into their car seat or strapped in correctly, officials say.

It’s why Carolinas Medical Center, in partnership with Safe Kids Charlotte Mecklenburg, hosts free car seat check events across Charlotte.

These events give parents an opportunity to make sure their children’s car seats are properly installed.

Director of Injury Prevention at Carolinas Medical Center Janice Williams says the events are important because while the seats can be installed based on the manufacturer’s instructions, every car has different limitations.

“Some might let you leave it in the middle seat, some of them, the seats might not be long enough to hold the whole car seat,” Williams said. “We have to help with the compatibility with the child, the seat, the vehicle, and what the parent is going to use correctly every single time.”

Williams says protecting your child in the car goes beyond the installation of their seat.

“When the harness is wrong, the child can still move in the crash, and still takes a portion of the injury,” Williams said. “And if they’re small size, that can end up being very severe and life-altering for them.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says properly used child restraints reduce deaths by 71% for infants under the age of 1, and 54% for kids between 1 and 4 years old.

State law requires kids who are under 8 years old and weigh 80 pounds or less to stay in a car seat or booster. Williams, however, recommends using a booster until they’re at least 10 years old.

It is recommended to follow NHTSA’s car seat recommendations based on your child’s age and size.

You can use NHTSA’s Car Seat Inspection locator to find a location near you.