One out of two children are improperly restrained and unsafe in cars. Each year in Québec, around 1,000 passengers aged 9 or younger are injured or killed in traffic accidents.
Yet…
When used correctly, child safety seats can reduce the probability of death or serious injury by up to 70%.
Numbers to think about
86.4% of children under 5 years of age are secured in a seat that is adapted to their weight and height, according to a survey we conducted in 2015.
However, when children are secured in a seat that is adapted to their weight and height, in only 50.1% of cases are those seats actually used correctly (in other words, the child safety seat is properly anchored on the vehicle's seat and the child is properly restrained).
This means that one out of two children are improperly restrained and unsafe in cars.
When a vehicle hits an obstacle at 50 km/h, an 18-kg child becomes a 360-kg projectile
A person or an object's weight is multiplied by 20 at the moment of impact.
The child may be thrown against the front seat, the dashboard, the windshield, another passenger or even ejected from the vehicle.
Do you only have a short way to go?
Put your child in the car seat anyway, just as if you were going on a trip! Many accidents occur near the home, and more than half occur in zones with a speed limit of 50 km/h or less.
