Child Passenger Safety Week emphasizes the importance of safely transporting children throughout their childhood. During this week and year round, the Aquia Harbour Volunteer Rescue Squad is encouraging parents and caregivers to buckle up their children, on every ride, and to educate children about safety in and around vehicles. Riding unrestrained is the greatest risk factor for death and injury among child occupants of motor vehicles. Child restraint devices are required for children through the age of seven (until 8th birthday). Safety seats must be properly used and approved by Department of Transportation standards. There is no height or weight requirement associated with this law. The Virginia law is based solely on age. Unfortunately, many parents believe that once their child has outgrown his or her forward-facing child safety seat, an adult seat belt offers adequate protection. But, using seat belts alone to secure small children can be dangerous. A shoulder belt designed for an adult can cut across a child’s neck and the lap belt can ride up over the stomach, which could cause a serious or fatal injury in a crash. That is why we encourage parents to put children around ages 4 to 8 years old and under 4-feet 9-inches tall in booster seats. A booster seat positions the lap and shoulder belts correctly, low over the hips and upper thighs and snug over the shoulder. For more information on child passenger safety, call Stafford County Fire and Rescue at 540-658-7200 or call the Virginia Department of Health, Division of Injury and Violence Prevention at 1-800-732-8333 or visit its web site at www.safetyseatva.org to learn of locations to get your child safety seat or booster seat inspected and installed correctly.
