In 2008, the number of children younger than 1 year old or less than 20 pounds restrained in rear-facing child safety seats increased significantly. Rear-facing child safety seats are the appropriate child restraint for children younger than 1 year old or less than 20 pounds. This result is from the National Survey of the Use of Booster Seats (NSUBS), the only probability-based nationwide child restraint survey that observes restraint use and collects age, height, and weight information. The NSUBS is conducted by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Although the primary purpose of the NSUBS is to estimate booster seat use, the survey also provides estimates of the extent to which children are “prematurely graduated” to restraint types that are inappropriate for their height or weight. We have found some improvements in the 2008 survey but we are still seeing evidence of premature graduation for all restraint types. In the following sections, we present the 2008 findings in three areas: * Premature graduation out of rear-facing safety seats; * Premature graduation out of front-facing safety seats; and * Premature graduation into seat belts. A review of child safety seats on the market finds a wide variation in height and weight limits. Many height limits range between 36 and 54 inches, and many weight limits range from 40 to 60 pounds. Thus we will consider these various limits in applying the NHTSA recommendation to assess the survey results. (Author/publisher)
Abstract