Grandparents, help protect
grandchildren from car crash injuries, a preventable
epidemic for American children
Medialink--The
holiday season is one of the most heavily traveled times of
the year, and car accidents will once again take their toll
- particularly on children, the most defenseless of
passengers.
Car crash injury is the leading epidemic facing
this generation of American children, with approximately 1.5
million children involved in car crashes annually. Crashes
result in higher child mortalities than violence, AIDS or
cancer,
and it is estimated as many as 130 children could be killed
in car crashes during this holiday season, with many more
being seriously injured.
Fortunately, research from the Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia - a pioneer in eradicating childhood epidemics
and home to the world's largest ongoing study on children in
crashes - indicates that seating children under 13 in
age-appropriate car seating can reduce children's risk of
injury to less than 2 percent.
Because cars are primarily
designed to protect average-sized male adults, devices like
seat belts and airbags can cause serious or fatal injury to
children. By buckling children into car seats and seatbelts,
as mandated by law in all 50 states, heartbreaking injuries
and fatalities can be significantly reduced.