Car Seats Save Young Lives

"Any restraint device helps to keep the child inside the vehicle, which decreases fatalities," said Dr. Barbara Gaines, director of the Benedum Pediatric Trauma Program at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. "So, with the older kids, a seat belt may keep them sort of in the car, but seat belts certainly won't prevent some of the other serious injuries we see."

As Rice said, "The use of traditional seat belts for this age group is certainly not recommended, but they are far better than traveling unrestrained."

Added Gaines: "Using very robust statistical modeling, this study again proves the importance of using age-appropriate child restraints." She suggested:

Rear-facing infant seats for up to 1 year or soConvertible seats for older, larger infants, until about age 3Booster seats for 4- to 8-year-olds

"And, check the car seat for weight guidelines, because they're not identical for all seats," Gaines said. "When children graduate from booster seats, they still need to use the car's restraints. Teenagers are the ones least likely to be restrained."

More information

Learn more about car safety seats from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

SOURCES: Thomas Rice, Ph.D., M.P.H., research epidemiologist, Traffic Safety Center, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley; Barbara Gaines, M.D., director, Benedum Pediatric Trauma Program, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh; February 2009, American Journal of Public Health