Rear-Facing Car Safety Seats: Getting the Message Right

Abstract

Information learned during medical training changes frequently with advances in nearly every field of medicine. Now we are asked to learn new advice to give parents and caregivers of infants and young children regarding the safest way for them to ride in a car. Child fatalities and injuries in motor vehicles have been significantly reduced since initiation of occupant-protection measures in the 1970s.1 The combined efforts of the counseling of primary medical care providers, the education and research provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the car safety seat manufacturers, and many research facilities, and the support of child passenger safety advocates across the country have been largely responsible for these results. Many challenges remain as we strive to continue to reduce the rates of injury to children on our nation's highways. It is critical to realize that, despite marked improvement in rates of restraint in all age groups, over half of children killed are improperly restrained or unrestrained. Our first priority must be to ensure that every child is restrained appropriately for his or her age and size for every trip in a car. Helping parents make the best decisions for selection and proper use of car safety seats and seat belts is very important. Continual evolution of knowledge, safety information, and changes in car safety seat designs make this task … Address correspondence to Marilyn J. Bull, MD, 4747 N Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN 46208. E-mail: mbull{at}iupui.edu