The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Nov. 11 announced it is seeking comment (.pdf file) by March 8 on a technical report (.pdf file) that shows a reduced risk of injury for children who are placed correctly in motor vehicle child safety restraints.
The report is based on an analysis of statistics from the Crashworthiness Data System and 17 combined years of state data from Kansas, Washington and Nebraska. It focused on the effects of early graduation from child restraint seats to booster seats and of early graduation from booster seats to lap and shoulder belts.
Findings from the report show that among 3- and 4-year-olds, the risk of injury is reduced when children are restrained with the recommended child restraints, rather than in booster seats. Meanwhile, among 4- to 8-year-olds, injury risk is reduced when they are restrained by booster seats rather than lap and shoulder belts.
