Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children older than age 2. A total of 1,045 children younger than age 13 died in motor vehicle crashes in 2008; nearly 700 of these deaths were children riding in passenger vehicles. The number of child passenger deaths has declined by half since 1975. The rate of child passenger deaths per million children also has fallen dramatically, reaching a record low of 13 deaths per million children in 2008. Proper restraint use can help reduce deaths even more. The proportion of fatally injured children who were restrained rose from 15 percent in 1985 to 50 percent in 2008. Still, more than 260 fatally injured child occupants were unrestrained in 2008, and others were improperly restrained.

…it is still strange to hear that only 50% of fatally injured children in 2008 were in a child restraint of some kind.

Among the questions answered are “Are children safer in the rear seats?” (Yes) and “Which type of child safety seat should I use for my child?”.

In the 1980s there were many studies that showed that up to half of all child seats were partially or completely installed in the wrong way. At the same time child safety was beginning to gain momentum in the car industry. The idea of creating a simple and well defined interface for child restraints in cars was born in Sweden and swedish car manufacturers together with research institutions formed an ISO committee to develop the standard. The development was completed in 1996 and was named ISOFIX. The same year the Volkswagen group decided to introduce ISOFIX in the entire range.

The system is known as LATCH, Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children, in the United States and LUAS, Lower Universal Anchorage System, in Canada. It has also been called the “Universal Child Safety Seat System”.

Most cars sold in Europe today come with ISOFIX mounts installed by default and they are very simple to use. It is also very easy to find child restraints/seats that use ISOFIX. The only problem is that ISOFIX mounts can’t be used for children above 18 Kg which means you will have to fit the child restraint the ordinary way if you intend to have them rearward-facing up to 4 years of age or longer.

What is the situation like in your country? Is it easy to find cars and seats that use ISOFIX?

Here is one video that explains the danger and risk of serious injury if you are using a forward-facing child restraint:

There are other benefits as well:

• The front seat provides more leg room. This makes it possible to use a rearward-facing car seat for up to a year longer.
• Less distraction for the driver. A test showed that when placing infants in the back seat drivers were distracted much more often than when placing them in the front seat.

Read more at the Folksam website: Child safety tips (automatically translated from swedish).

A rearward-facing child restraint absorb the collision force over a greater area than a forward facing child restraint. This provides for better safety for the child.

Sweden has the lowest number of children killed in car accidents when compared with all countries reporting to IRTAD (International Road Traffic Accident Database) for the period 2001-2005. It is particularly among the youngest children (0-9 years) that Sweden has a low mortality rate in traffic (see International statistics on children killed in traffic accidents).

For more information see the ANEC press release A Fatal Contradiction-Child safety in cars: A wide gulf has developed between technology and legislation, and The “Swedish Model” Is Recommended in the Nordic Road and Transport Research Journal.