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Keeping Kids Safe in Cars

Article Translations: (Spanish)

Starting with a baby's very first ride home from the hospital, parents must make sure that their kids travel safely. Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death in children, and more kids die in automobile crashes than in any other type of unintentional injury.

Protect your kids by making sure they ride safely.

Importance of Child Safety Seats

Using a child safety seat (car seat) is the best protection you can give your child when traveling by car. If you need help installing your safety seat or want to be sure you did so correctly, there are child seat inspection stations across the country. Find one near you. 

Learn more about car seats.

Booster Seats

Booster seats are vehicle safety seats for kids who have outgrown forward-facing or convertible car seats but are still too small to use only a vehicle's seatbelts.

Learn more about booster seats.

Air Bags and Kids

Air bags were designed with adults in mind. But young children can be injured or even killed if they ride in the front passenger seat and an air bag opens.

To protect kids from air-bag injury:

  • All kids under 13 years of age should always ride in the back seat. All passengers must have their seatbelts buckled.
  • If your car doesn’t have a back seat and a child under 13 years old must sit in the front, push the passenger seat as far back as it will go.
  • If you must place a child in a booster seat in the front seat and your car has a cut-off switch to disable the air bag, disable the air bag for the duration of the ride. Switch the air bag back on when you remove the booster seat.

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Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.

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