Statewide Iowa — Add the fact that many of us have families with children, the relative remoteness of our cities, and the fact that many Iowans don’t live in a city with easy access to public transportation — and you have a recipe for a not-so-pleasant statistic: Iowa ranks 4th in the nation for the most car crash fatalities involving children. And with the busyness of the holiday season right now, the risk is even greater.
The busy holiday time means a lot of cars (and families) are on the road and there’s a higher risk for car crashes. On average, two children (ages 0-13) are killed every day in car crashes in the US, most of which are caused by improper seatbelt or carseat use.
The statistics come from safewise.com. SafeWise analysts say they evaluated the most recent car crash data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHSTA) and child safety seat laws from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) to determine which states in the country had the highest and lowest numbers of child car crash fatalities per 100,000 child population.
Some interesting facts uncovered by the research: Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Iowa, and South Dakota have child fatality rates roughly twice as high as the US average of 2.02. And the top ten safest states for child passengers have an average fine of $106 for child safety seat law violations, compared to the ten states with the most fatalities, with an average fine of only $45.
Since it wouldn’t be easy to change the demographics of Iowa, Safewise focused on the things we can change, and researched some safety tips. They say you should register the carseat with the manufacturer so that you stay informed of any safety updates or recall information. Safewise also says you need to read the instructions because every seat is different. They advise you to make sure you read and follow the instructions for the model you have.
Registered nurse Shannon Klarenbeek at Health Services of Lyon County gives us some more tips.
Klarenbeek says they have a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician on their staff, so you can call them for assistance or they’ll even come out and check that your seat is properly installed.
That number again is 712-472-8200. Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians are available in many communities to double-check that your seat or booster is properly installed. Check with your county health department. Some of them provide the service and others can point you in the right direction. Many hospitals also provide the service.
Safewise says your child or children should use their carseats for every car trip. They also remind you to never put a rear-facing carseat in a front passenger airbag seat, because the airbag could injure your child if it deploys.
