A high proportion of children may be at risk as passengers in vehicles because of non-compliance with booster seat laws—despite the fact that a majority of parents support such laws, according to a survey by a national kids’ safety group.
The Safe Kids Canada/Leger marketing poll, released in the approach to Safe Kids Week from May 30 to June 5, found that nearly four out of five households (78 percent) support the idea of a booster seat law.
Yet only 30 percent of children who should be using booster seats are actually doing so, according to Transport Canada, despite their parents’ belief in the importance of using one, and despite existing booster seat laws in the majority of Canadian provinces.
Car crashes are the leading cause of death among children in Canada under the age of 14. Transport Canada reports that each year, approximately 3,500 children are injured and another 61 are killed.
Booster seats provide a good measure of protection for undersized passengers, and almost two million children are at risk of severe injury by not using them, according to Safe Kids Canada.
“Parents need to know that although seatbelts are an effective safety device, they are designed for adult bodies, and not young children,” says Pamela Fuselli, executive director of Safe Kids Canada.
“The solution is simple. If your child has outgrown their forward-facing car seat and is under four feet nine inches tall, or 145 centimetres, put them in a booster seat. It could save their life.”
Safe Kids Canada says a booster seat reduces the risk of injury to children in a car accident by 60 percent. When a child is too small for a seat belt, it cuts across his or her neck and rides up on the abdomen, which can cause injuries to the neck, spine, and internal organs in the event of a crash.
“A booster seat better protects a child by positioning the seat belt away from the neck and under the abdominal area,” the organization says, noting that children need to ride in booster seats from the time they outgrow their forward-facing car seats until they’re big enough to use a seat belt by itself.
There are two different types of booster seats that can be used in Canada: a high back booster seat, which provides head and neck protection in cars without head restraints, and a no back booster, which is used in cars that have adjustable head restraints.
The provinces that do not have mandatory booster seat legislation for children under 145 centimetres tall include Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Safe Kids Canada advocates that booster seat regulation for children under that height should apply across Canada.
