Child car seat safety

The answer is C.

It's no secret that kids need to be in good car seats, but apparently many parents still don't know the details. In a new survey, the National SAFE KIDS Campaign found that fully one-third, 33 percent, of children ages 14 and under were riding in the wrong restraint type for their age and size.

Even more startling, 14 percent of children were riding cars without any restraint protection at all, and 63% of kids who should have been in belt-positioning booster seats (generally those ages 4 to 8) weren't restrained properly.

Not surprisingly, the attitudes of parents about seat belt use seems to affect kids' safety: When drivers were not using their seatbelts, nearly 40 percent of the kids riding with them were completely unrestrained.

The study was based on observations of more than 9,000 children traveling in some 6,000 vehicles across the country in November and December, 2000, and in January, 2001.

Resources:

• Read more about this SAFE KIDS study on the group's Web site.

March 2, 2002