09/02/2026
Parents and Caregivers:
Ensure Children are in the Right Seat
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is reminding parents and caregivers that children are best protected in a crash when they are correctly buckled in the right seat for their age and size. Car seats and booster seats have height and weight limits. To maximize safety, children should stay in each seat until they outgrow either of those limits. The safest place for all children under 13 is the back seat, as frontal air bags are designed for adult passengers.
Vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children, and research from NHTSA shows that 4 percent of car seats are misused. Common issues include children being in the wrong types of car seats for their age and size, and car seats being installed incorrectly — both of which leave children vulnerable to injury in a crash.
Keeping a child in the right seat for their age and size can make all the difference in a crash. Of the child passengers killed in crashes in 2024, more than a third (39 percent) were unrestrained. Car seats have been shown to reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants under 1 year old and by 54 percent for toddlers 1 to 4 years old in passenger cars.
Booster seats are a critical step between harnessed car seats and adult seat belts. If the seat belt doesn’t fit a child correctly, it won’t offer them the optimal protection in a crash. In 2024, the number of children killed in passenger vehicle crashes was highest for children ages 8 to 12. Once a child is ready to use a seat belt, parents should ensure that it fits correctly — that the seat belt lies across the upper thighs and is snug across the shoulder and chest, away from the face and neck.
NHTSA.gov has free resources available to answer parents and caregivers’ questions and point them in the right direction.
Child Passenger Safety Technicians can help caregivers pick the right car seat, learn how to install it correctly, and know how to use it the right way on every trip. To find a technician near you in Pennsylvania, visit www.pakidstravelsafe.org
# # #
