Government says Florida has nation’s most lenient child passenger safety laws; children at increased risk of injury in Fort Lauderdale car accidents

According to the National Traffic Safety Board, our youngest travelers face the greatest risk of injury or death if involved in a car accident in Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach or elsewhere in South Florida.

Florida earned the NTSB’s “most lenient” ranking because State law only requires child safety seats for children aged 3 or younger. NTSB standards recommend state child restraint laws for children up to age 8.

To back up this requirement, the NTSB reports that for children ages 4 to 8, using a booster seat and seat belt combination reduces their risk of car accident injury by 59 percent. South Florida car accident attorneys know that properly installed car seats and booster seats used in conjunction with safety belts save countless lives. Because of this simple truth, we support the NHTSA’s annual Child Passenger Safety Week efforts and provide a link to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s best booster ranking system.

Safe Kids USA, is a network of more than 600 organizations and coalitions across the U.S. that work together to raise awareness of child safety issues and prevent unintentional injury among children under age 14. Regarding car seats, booster seats and child safety restraints, Safe Kids USA has found:

~ Just shy of 1000 children under age 14 are killed each year in car accidents.

~ If parents and caregivers buckle up, so do child passengers.

~ Children using properly installed and appropriate child restraints are 80 percent less likely to sustain a fatal injury in a car crash than children who are not.

~ In 2005 alone, almost 700 children killed in car accidents were not using proper child restraints.

~ Children prematurely using safety belts alone are four times more likely to sustain serious head injury than those using seat belts in tandem with child safety seats or child booster seats.

South Florida car accident attorneys at Freeman & Mallard have been successfully and aggressively representing car accident victims and their families in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Ft. Pierce /Port St. Lucie for years. Call us today to schedule a no-obligation appointment to discuss your case at 1-800-529-2368.