Safety Hazard--Over Half of Children can undo Car-seat Restraints--Highlighting need for Safer Designs

Over half of children can undo car-seat restraints.


HealthDay (5/1, Dotinga) reported, "A team of researchers led by Dr. Lilia B. Reyes, a clinical fellow in the department of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, surveyed 378 parents and found that just over half reported that at least one of their children had managed to unbuckle a seatbelt in a car seat at some point." Of the children who "unbuckled their seatbelts, 75 percent were aged 3 or younger; some were as old as 78 months, or over six years." In a release, Reyes said, "Perhaps passive safety locks on the seatbelt can be developed, as a potential option for intervention."