Texas Launches Child Car Seat Safety Campaign

AUSTIN, TX — Here's a disturbing statistic: Nearly half of all car seats are misused nationally, even while parents think their children are securely fastened in the back seat of their vehicles. To mitigate that trend, state transportation officials are raising awareness timed with National Child Passengers Safety Week next week.

Those statistics on improper child car seats comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which found 46 of all car seats being installed incorrectly. As part of its annual “Save Me with a Seat” campaign, and in honor of the awareness week scheduled from Sept. 15–21, TxDOT is encouraging parents and caregivers to sign up for a free child car seat check-up at any of its 25 district offices located throughout Texas.

TxDOT also will be hosting interactive events in eight Texas cities, featuring the use of an augmented reality experience created to educate parents on child seat safety, officials said.

“Proper use of car seats offers the best protection for children in the event of a crash,” TxDOT Executive Director James Bass said in a prepared statement. “We are making a concerted effort to make sure parents have their children securely buckled in the appropriate car seats, and that those seats are correctly installed.”

TxDOT’s free safety seat inspections are available throughout the year and take about 30 minutes. To schedule a seat check-up in the Austin District, contact TxDOT Traffic Safety Specialist Sue Flores at sue.flores@txdot.gov. Drivers can also visit SaveMeWithaSeat.org to find out if a child should be in a rear-facing, forward-facing or booster seat, and get other child passenger safety tips.

More statistics speak to the need for the public awareness campaign: Last year in Texas, 62 children younger than 8 years old died in traffic crashes; 16 were unrestrained at the time of the crash. Among children ages 8-12, 56 died in traffic crashes that same year; 21 were unrestrained at the time of the crash. In the Austin District last year, there were 23 passenger vehicle crashes that resulted in 25 serious injuries and two fatalities for children younger than 8 years old.

According to NHTSA, child car seats can reduce the risk of fatal injury in a crash by 71 percent for infants and by 54 percent for toddlers. TxDOT reminds drivers that Texas law requires all children under 8 — unless they are taller than 4 feet, 9 inches — to be in a car seat whenever they ride in a passenger vehicle. Failure to properly restrain a child can result in a ticket of up to $250. Children under age 13 should ride in the back seat, properly secured in a seat belt or safety seat.

The “Save Me with a Seat” campaign is a key component of #EndTheStreakTX, a broader social media and word-of-mouth effort that encourages drivers to make safer choices while on the road, such as going the speed limit, wearing a seat belt, never drinking and driving or texting and driving, officials said. The last day recorded without a death on Texas roadways was Nov. 7, 2000, state transportation officials added for further emphasis. "#EndTheStreakTX asks all Texans to commit to driving safely to help end the streak of daily deaths," officials wrote.