“A troubling trend persists.” There has been a slight drop in child deaths nationwide, but child safety and booster seat use declines after a child turns three and continues to decline as children age, despite the continued need for these safety devices to protect young passengers. And many child restraints aren’t age appropriate or used correctly.
Last year, 67% of car seats were improperly installed or used.
Those are the main findings of a new analysis released in late August by the AAA automotive group to coincide with the start of Baby Safety Month, commemorated during the month of September, and National Child Passenger Safety Week, Sept. 21-27.
“Saving lives is what we’re all about at AAA, and that starts with making sure every kid is buckled up the right way, every time,” Jake Nelson, AAA’s director of traffic safety advocacy and research, said in a statement. “Car seats can be tricky — but AAA’s here to help parents get it right.”
The analysis, conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the National Safety Council (NSC) in partnership with Westat researchers, showed that from 2019 to 2023, over 3.9 million children aged 11 and under were involved in car crashes, resulting in more than 516,000 injuries and more than 2,800 deaths. Nearly 100,000 children were injured in car crashes in 2023 alone.
The evaluation was based on five years of federal data on child restraint use in car crashes from police-reports, and includes more than 91,000 car seat inspections performed in 2024 from the National Digital Car Seat Check Form (NDCF), a national database of information on car seat inspections performed by certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians.
The report found that:
– nearly 4 in 10 (37%) children aged 7-11 killed in a car crash were completely unrestrained;
– about 3 in 10 (33%) children aged 4-6 killed in a car crash were completely unrestrained; and
– 1 in 4 (26%) of the youngest children, aged 0-3, who were killed were unrestrained.
Common misuses, cited by researchers based on the NDCF database, include: a car seat installation that is too loose, not using the tether when installing a forward-facing car seat with either the lower anchor attachment system or seat belt, and a harness that is too loose when securing a child in a car seat.
The goal, the safety groups said, is to highlight the importance of correct car seat use for each growth phase.
It’s about height, not age
Parents and caregivers are good at getting expert help when children are less than one year old or before birth, researchers said, but they do not always come back for adjustments as the child ages. According to the NDCF, nearly 23% of children move to booster seats too soon and more than 89% transition to a seat belt too soon.
When used correctly, car seats, booster seats, and seat belts protect young passengers. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, child restraints reduce fatalities by 71% for infants younger than one and by 54% for children 1 to 4 years old in passenger cars.
Among the AAA’s recommendations for child passenger safety:
To learn how to get a car seat checked, as well as answers to car seat, booster seat, and seat belt questions by state, click here. Those without local resources can check a child’s car seat and readiness for a seat belt virtually through an online meeting with National Safety Council staff.
“Fewer children are being injured and killed in car crashes, and that’s a movement in the right direction,” Amy Artuso, director of mobility safety programs and roadway safety at the National Safety Council, said in a statement. “However, we still have a lot of work to do — especially when it comes to keeping older children safe. Children grow up fast, but seat belt readiness takes time, and booster seats can help keep kids safe until seat belts fit them correctly.”
For more information, click here.