Keep Kids Safe While Traveling This Holiday Season
The holiday season often involves traveling to visit family members. If you are driving this year, you want to be sure to obey the current safety laws for children and do everything you can to protect your little ones, especially since accidents often increase around the holidays. Here are a few tips.
Tips for Keeping Children Safe in a Car
- According to the CDC, the following suggestions can help to protect a child if a car accident occurs.
- Infants under age 1 – Be sure to use a rear-facing car seat. Car seats reduce infant fatalities by 71%.
- Ages 1 to 4 – Car seat use can reduce the risk for toddlers by 54%.
- Ages 4 to 8 – A booster seat decreases the risk of injury to a child by 50%.
- Children age 8 or older – A seat belt cuts the risk of fatality in half for older children.
Seat Belt Laws in California
If your children are under the age of 8, California law requires that they will have to travel in the back seat and in either a car seat or a booster seat depending on age. However, after January 1, the laws are being updated, so you may have to invest in a rear-facing child seat for your infant if he or she meets the following requirements.
- Age: 2 or younger
- Weight: 40 pounds or less
- Height: 40 inches or less
So unless your two-year-old is larger than the height and weight requirements, he or she will have to have the appropriate chair by the start of the new year.
When Injury Occurs in an Accident
The most tragic thing that can occur in a car accident is harm to a child. If you need to pursue a personal injury case, please contact the compassionate personal injury attorneys at Petrov Law Firm to ensure you receive due compensation. Get started by calling 619-344-0360 today.
