Countywide : Too Few Children Using Safety Seats, CHP Says
The number of children who have died in car accidents since a law requiring child safety seats took effect has dropped only slightly, and California Highway Patrol officials say too many drivers either are not using the seats or are not buckling them properly.
In the first 10 months of 1984, 48 children age 4 and younger died in car accidents in California, compared with 60 for all of 1983, said Rick Stevens, a CHP spokesman.
Of the 48 fatalities, two were in Orange County, he said. In all but three of the 48, he said, the children either were not in safety seats at all or were not buckled in properly, he said.
In emphasizing the seats’ effectiveness, Stevens said that a 15-month-old boy escaped injury in a hit-and-run accident last week on the Riverside Freeway because he was in a state-approved child seat but that all other passengers had to be hospitalized.
“All it takes is a little effort,” he said.
Children 4 and younger or who weigh less than 40 pounds must be buckled tightly in car seats, which should be certified by the state.
Last year, CHP officers in Orange County issued 306 citations to drivers with young children not in safety seats.
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