CDC Features

CDC Features

Protect Your Passengers

Graphic: A parent putting a child in a safety seat.

Make sure the ones you love are safe and secure—all the time, on every trip.

In 2008, about 4 children ages 14 or younger were killed in motor vehicle crashes every day, and many more were injured. But parents and caregivers can make a lifesaving difference. During National Child Passenger Safety Week, September 12—18, 2009, learn all you can do to keep your most precious cargo safe.

Reduce Their Risk

Photo: A mother putting her child in a safety seat.

Whenever you're on the road, make sure your child passengers are buckled into appropriate safety seats. The safest place for children of any age to ride is properly restrained in the back seat. Data show that:

In 2007, child-restraints saved the lives of 382 children ages 4 and younger.
Child safety seats reduce the risk of death in car crashes by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers ages one to four.
For children ages 4 to 7, booster seats reduce injury risk by 59% compared to safety belts alone.
Children ages 12 and younger should always be buckled up and seated in the rear seat of vehicles
Infants in rear-facing car seats should never ride in the front seat of vehicles with airbags.

Know the Stages

In an effort to raise parents' awareness about the leading causes of child injury in the United States and how they can be prevented, CDC has launched the "Protect the Ones You Love" initiative. Parents can play a life-saving role in protecting children from injuries. Information is available in English and Spanish. Learn more.

Follow these guidelines for maximum child passenger safety:

For the best possible protection keep infants in the back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible up to the height or weight limit of their particular seat. At a minimum, keep infants rear-facing until at least age 1 year and at least 20 pounds.
When children outgrow their rear-facing seats (at least age 1 year and at least 20 pounds) they should ride in forward-facing child safety seats, in the back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds).
Once children outgrow their forward-facing seats (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds), they should ride in booster seats, in the back seat, until the vehicle seat belts fit properly. Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest (usually at age 8 or when the children are 4'9" tall).
When children outgrow their booster seats (usually at age 8 or when they are 4'9" tall), they can use the adult seat belts in the back seat, if they fit properly (lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest).

Remember: All children younger than 13 years should ride in the back seat.

CDC's online fact sheets on child passenger safety and road traffic injury prevention can help you learn more.