Motor vehicles accidents remain the leading cause of death for those between the ages of 5-34, and over 2.3 million people are treated in emergency rooms each year in car collisions according the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  Great strides have been made to make motor vehicles safer, but seatbelts and car seats remain the leading safety feature to keep kids safe in accidents involving motor vehicles.  Though many vehicles are adding more airbag protection, airbags are intended to provide supplemental protection to seatbelts or car seats in the event of a Mississippi car accident.  However, many children are left exposed because they do not use seatbelts or car seats or in the case of children in car seats, they are able to unbuckle the car seat.

Seat belts and car seats only provide protection if vehicle occupants use them.  There is a growing body of evidence that many children, toddler and infants are not receiving the benefit of the protection of seat belts and car seats.  A recent study has revealed that many car seats can be unfastened by small children leaving children unprotected.  A team of researchers from the department of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine conducted a study involving 378 parents.  The study revealed that over half of the parents in the study revealed that they had a child that had been able to unfasten their car seat.  Even more alarming, 75 percent of the children who were able to unfasten their child restraint system were children age 3 or under.  Children as young as a years old were able to unbuckle their car seat.

Researchers point out that because there is a significant difference in the speed of development in children’s motor skills and cognitive skills, young children may develop the ability to unfasten their car seat buckle before understanding the safety function provided by a child safety restraint system in a car accident.  Auto accidents remain the leading cause of death for children age 4-8.  This feature which affects many car seats is an issue that has received little discussion but may represent the most significant car seat defect.  A child whose car seat is not buckled faces a high risk of suffering catastrophic injuries and wrongful death in a serious auto collision when traveling on Mississippi roadways.

Older children who are not buckled up in seat belts also are highly likely to suffer serious injury in a Mississippi car crash.  Over 55 percent of those killed in car accidents are not wearing seat belts.  Seat belts are credited with saving the lives of 13,000 people in 2008 and over 75,000 people during a recent 4 year period.  While mandatory seat belt laws have improved these statistics, many children and teenagers still do not consistently buckle up.  Parents are well advised to instill an expectation in their children from an early age that a child must buckle up every time.  A child who grows up with the expectation that a car does not move until everyone is buckled up is more likely to continue to do so when the child travels in other people’s vehicles or when becoming old enough to drive.

If you or your child have suffered serious injury in a motor vehicle accident anywhere in Mississippi, the experienced law firm of Barrett Law PLLC provides compassionate and dedicated legal representation to auto accident victims throughout Mississippi. A Mississippi auto accident attorney from our firm can provide a free initial case evaluation so contact us today to see how we can help at (662) 834-2376.