Keiki are precious. And when they’re traveling with us in our vehicles, they become precious cargo. That’s why we have to be sure we’re doing all we can to take care of them. That’s especially important on Kauai, with its two-lane highways that have vehicles whizzing past each other at 40 and 50 mph and one mistake can lead to accidents.
We bring this up because it’s National Child Passenger Safety Week and the Kauai Police Department will be hosting a free car seat safety inspection from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Walmart.
Research has also shown that properly installed child safety seats can reduce the risk of infant fatalities by 71 percent, and by 54 percent for toddlers, ages 1 to 4 years old, the county release stated.
If you have keiki, and they join you in your vehicle, please check this out.
“In order to be effective, car seats must be the right fit for both your child and vehicle, and they must be properly installed,” says KPD Acting Deputy Chief Robert Gausepohl in the release. “Car seat installation can be a complicated process, which is why we urge all parents and guardians to take advantage of this free event on Saturday to help ensure your child’s safety.”
Trained officers will inspect car seats and installations, and make the necessary recommendations or adjustments right there on the spot.
You may know this already, but if you don’t, you should: car crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 13, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that many of these deaths can be prevented.
w In the United States, 723 children ages 12 years and younger died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes during 2016, and more than 128,000 were injured in 2016.
w One CDC study found that, in one year, more than 618,000 children ages 0-12 rode in vehicles without the use of a child safety seat or booster seat or a seat belt at least some of the time.
w Of the children ages 12 years and younger who died in crashes in 2016 (for which restraint use was known), 35 percent were not buckled up.
“Tragically, that means more than one-third of children killed in 2016 while riding in passenger vehicles were not buckled in at all,” Gausepohl said. “Please don’t make the same preventable mistake. Properly buckling up your keiki is not only required by law, but it can save your child’s life.”
Hawaii’s state law is clear on this. Children under the age of 4 must ride in a child safety seat, and children under the age of 8 are to ride in a child passenger restraint or booster seat. Violators could face a fine of up to $500, and may be required to take a child passenger safety course.
Even if this were not the law, it doesn’t matter. Because we know that keiki are safer in safety seats when in vehicles, that’s where they need to be.
