SACRAMENTO,
Calif. – The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is dedicating the third week of
September to ensuring California’s youngest motor vehicle passengers are safe and
secure while traveling on the state’s roadways.
National Child
Passenger Safety Week is September 17-23, 2023.
The week serves as an opportunity to educate and encourage parents and
caregivers to make certain that every child is properly restrained for every
trip, facing the correct direction, and in the correct safety seat for their
age and size.
“Child safety
seats, when correctly installed, afford the best protection for infants and
young children,” said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. “The CHP has trained
Child Passenger Safety Technicians available in communities throughout the
state, who offer parents and caregivers free, one-on-one instruction and car seat
installation to help achieve the best fit for their child.”
Motor vehicle
traffic crashes are the leading cause of death of children in the United
States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, in 2021,
711 child passengers ages 12 and younger were killed in motor vehicle crashes
in the United States, and in 2020 more than 63,000 were injured.
Of the children who were killed in
a crash, 36 percent were not buckled up. These deaths can be avoided. According to the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, child safety seats have been shown to reduce fatal
injury by 71% for infants (under the age of 1) and by 54% for toddlers (1-4
years old).
The CHP has
trained thousands of uniformed and nonuniformed personnel to be Child Passenger
Safety (CPS) Technicians since the program began in 1999. CHP CPS Technicians provide safety seat
inspections, education, and hands-on training for parents and caregivers year-round.
If
you are not confident how to properly secure your child in a safety seat,
contact your local CHP Area office, and ask to speak with a child passenger
safety technician. Click on this link to locate a local CHP Area office
anywhere in California.
California
law requires children under the age of two, weighing less than 40 pounds or below
40 inches tall, ride in a rear-facing car seat.
All children under the age of eight must ride in the back seat in an
age-appropriate safety seat. Additionally, it is recommended that all children 13
and under should ride in the back seat.
For more information about child passenger safety, visit the CHP Child Safety Seat Programs.
The
mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and
Security.
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