Death of Improperly Restrained Children Observed During Baby Safety Month

September 2009 hails Baby Safety month, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) declared September 12-18 National Child Passenger Safety Week.

As an experienced accident and personal injury attorney, I urge parents in North Central Florida to assess child safety in their vehicles during Baby Safety Month. A simple safety seat check can help avoid tragedy and reduce child death-such as those occurring in Marion County last March.   

On March 1, 2009, Micanopy resident, Tiffany A. Davis's collided in a head-on accident with another vehicle, resulting in the tragic death of her 2 young children, 3 and 9, and the waist-down paralysis of her third child, 9. 

What caused the death of these children? One factor could have been Davis' improper use of child safety restraints (in addition to the Oxycodone, marijuana, and cocaine cocktail present in Davis' system at the time of the crash).  Davis has been charged with child neglect with serious bodily injury and DUI Manslaughter.

Davis' crash forces us to face hard facts - 80% of child restraints are used incorrectly (NHTSA).

Could proper use of child restraints have saved Davis' children? We may never know.  But we do know how they should have been restrained under Florida law based on their ages.  

In the spirit of NHTSA's National Child Passenger Safety Week, Florida's child restraint laws require the following:

• Children ages 0 through 3 must be restrained in a crash-tested, federally approved child restraint device (separate carrier);
• Children ages 4 through 5 must be restrained in a separate carrier, an integrated child seat, or with a seatbelt;
• Children under the age of 18 must be properly restrained by a safety belt or approved child restraint device when riding in a motor vehicle.

So what does this mean? Davis' 3 year old should have been in a federally approved forward-facing car seat. The 9-year olds should have been properly secured by safety belts or in booster seats, if they weighed between 40-80 pounds and measured under 4'9".

The NHTSA reminds us car crashes are the leading cause of death for children from 2 to 14 years old.  Plus, head-on collisions are more likely to result in fatalities.  Common causes of head-on collisions include crossing the center line-both of which may have been contributing factors.

For more information:

 3 Ways to Protect Your Most Precious Cargo - Your Child Passenger

Florida Child Car Seat Requirements Explained

 Head on Collisions are the Most Dangerous

It's the Law: The importance of Car Seats

Protect your child on the road - follow the law and be safe

Reminder - DUI does not always equal a high BAC