| Summary: | The Facts • Among children aged 0– 2, American Indian and Alaska Native children have the highest traffic death rate of all racial/ethnic groups in the United States. • More than half of car seats and booster seats are not used correctly. If the seat isn’t installed the right way, or you’re using the wrong type of seat for your child’s age, height, or weight, your child is not as safe as he or she could be. • Using age- and size-appropriate car seats, booster seats, and seat belts significantly reduce the risk of injury and death among children in a crash. Help Keep Yourself and Your Loved Ones Safe You can help keep yourself and your loved ones safe by: • Using a car seat, booster seat, or seat belt on every trip, no matter how short. • Finding the right car seat or booster seat for your child’s age, height, and weight. See the chart below for tips. • Getting help installing a car or booster seat from a certified child passenger safety technician. • Properly buckling children aged 12 and under in the back seat. The back seat is safest for children. • Never placing a rear-facing car seat in front of an airbag. Airbags can injure or kill small children riding in the front seat. • Not using traditional baby carriers (such as cradleboards) in place of a car seat. Traditional carriers do not keep children safe in cars or trucks. • Always wearing a seat belt when pregnant. Be sure to wear the lap belt below your belly. Place the shoulder belt across your chest—never behind the back, under the arm, or across the stomach.
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