Think your kids are safe buckled in car? Think again!

 

Dr. Lilia B. Reyes, who works in pediatric emergency medicine at the Yale School of Medicine (New Haven, Connecticut), is one of the researchers of this study.

The results of the study were presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS, held in Denver, Colorado).

What they found was that children four years and older were able to unbuckle themselves from car safety seats.

And, some of them were able to unbuckle themselves as young as one year old. Yes, 1 year old!

Dr. Reyes explains, “We found that children can unbuckle from their child car safety seats by their fourth birthday, and there is an alarming 43% who do so when the car is in motion. It was reported as early as 12 months.”

This quote was found in the May 2, 2011 WebMD article “Young Kids May Be Able to Unbuckle Car Seats.”

Page two concludes with more on children and unbuckling their car safety seats. In all, the research team surveyed 378 parents of young children. They asked them questions about their young children and the use of car safety seats.

The researchers found the following (as quoted from the WebMD article):

•    51% or about 191 families reported that at least one of their children had unbuckled their car seats. Of these, 75% were age 3 or younger. The youngest was 12 months old.

•    Boys unbuckled more than girls; 59% of the kids who unbuckled were boys.

Please read the WebMD article in more detail to learn more about this disturbing information about the ability of young children to unbuckle their car safety seats.