However, statistically, highway fatalities are more prevalent among African-American children. According to a report by Nashville s Meharry Medical College, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for African-Americans under the age of 20. Research conducted by Johns Hopkins University s School of Public Health also found that the risk of dying in a motor vehicle crash per mile of travel is three times greater for an African-American child, age 5 to 12, than it is for a Caucasian child. There are steps that can protect every child in a car today, Chairman Hall noted. First, every child should ride in the back seat, and they should be buckled up every time they get in a vehicle.
Adults can provide the example.
Eighty percent of the time, when an adult buckles up, the children are also buckled up. But, when an adult doesn t buckle up, the child passenger restraint usage rate drops to 20 percent. Every child should be placed in a restraint system that is appropriate for their age and size. Seat belts, like air bags, were designed for adults, not children. Children under the age of four should be secured in a child safety seat designed especially for them.