Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of childhood fatalities here in the United States. There were an estimated 116,000 children age 12 or younger that were injured in car crashes in 2017. A total of 675 children died in similar incidents that same year. Many of these crashes can be blamed on child victims not being properly restrained.
At least 49% of the 8- to 12-year-old children who lost their lives in car crashes in 2017 weren’t wearing seat belts when they happened. That same CDC data shows that 22% of those children age 4 and under who died were also unrestrained. Another 36% of those kids between the ages of 4 and 7 were not buckled up when their caregiver was involved in a crash.
That same data reveals some alarming information about car and booster seat use. CDC researchers determined that 46% of the children who died in 2017 did so, in part, due to their improper car or booster seat use. The CDC’s statistics show that car seats were misused nearly three times more often than booster seats that year.
CDC data shows that Hispanic and black children are more likely to be improperly restrained over their white counterparts. The percentage of white children who were not buckled up was found to be approximately 26%, whereas the percentage of Hispanic and black children who were not buckled up was 46% and 45%, respectively.
The CDC warns that parents could stand to re-educate themselves about the different stages at which they should change from having a rear-facing car seat to a forward-facing one. Moms and dads could benefit from learning when it’s appropriate to start letting their child ride in a booster seat and when they can allow them to start using a safety belt alone instead.
Many parents entrust the care of their child to a day care worker or teacher so that they can go to work each day. Your son or daughter’s caregiver is obliged to know about Texas laws and the type of restraint that children need when being transported from one location to the next. An attorney can advise you what type of legal action that you may be able to take in your Waco case if your son or daughter has been hurt due to their caregiver’s negligence.
Michael Zimmerman
Michael was born in Houston, Texas. His education at Baylor and Texas State Universities earned him a Bachelor of Science degree in 1987. His major was in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry. He finished his legal education at Texas Southern University in 1990, earning a Juris Doctorate from Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1990.
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