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Making
the best safety choices
As
parents, we all want to do the best for our children. Every day we
make choices and decisions that affect our children. The younger our
children are, the more they rely on us to make the right choices for
their safety and protection.
The
sad thing is that every year about 50 West Australian children die and
over 8000 are admitted to hospital as a result of injury. More
children are treated in hospital emergency departments; by GPís; at
local medical centres and at home for injuries.
The
majority of these will be unintentional injuries, the kind of events
often described as an ìaccidentî. The term ìaccidentî however,
implies that the event was unforeseeable and unpredictable, when in
reality the majority of injuries are both foreseeable and predictable.
Injuries
to children often occur when adults are distracted, there is a lapse
in adult supervision, or following a choice made by an adult. One of
the choices many parents make every day is about how their children
travel in the family car.
National
and international research shows that children are much better
protected in the event of a car crash if they are in a correctly
fitted and adjusted approved child restraint, suitable for their
weight and size. Yet decisions are made every day by adults that allow
children to travel in cars unrestrained or in a restraint system
outside their current weight and size specifications.
There
are different car restraints for children at different stages of their
development, so make the best choice for your child. Infants from
birth up to at least 8kg in weight and at least 6 months of age are
better protected in a crash in a rear facing restraint. Some
restraints will take infants up to 12kg in weight in a rear-facing
position, so there is no need to turn the infant to a forward facing
position too soon.
Older
infants and toddlers weighing from at least 8kg up to 18kg and who are
at least 6 months of age can travel in a forward-facing position. The
most suitable restraints for children at this stage have a five-point
harness as these offer more points of restraint across the stronger
parts of an infant or toddlerís body.
Booster
seats are for children who weigh at least 14kg and up to 26kg in
weight and who are around three years of age or older. Ideally,
booster seats should be used in conjunction with a child safety
harness to provide more points of restraint across the stronger parts
of the childís body.
Second
hand restraints should be less than 10 years old and never involved in
a crash. Make sure you check the history of a restraint before
purchasing second hand.
If
fitting a restraint yourself, always read the manufacturers
instructions and check the Vehicle Ownerís Handbook for information
about the location of child restraint anchor points. If you have any
problems or for further information about correct selection and use of
child car restraints, contact an experienced child car restraint
fitter at Kidsafe WA on 9340 8509.
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