BUCKLE UP: Child Traffic Fatalities Down

This week is National Child Passenger Safety Week and officials say Iowa’s roads were safer for children in 2011 than they were the previous year.

In Iowa, six children under the age of 15 died in crashes in 2011. That compares to eight the year before. Forty to sixty Iowa children are also seriously injured in crashes each year.

While deaths are down, seat-belt usage is up to 94-percent. The Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau is using National Passenger Safety Week as a reminder to parents to make sure their children are buckled up and are using car seats and booster seats properly.

In Iowa, everyone up to age 18 must wear a seatbelt and children younger than age 13 must sit in the backseat. 

You can learn more about seatbelt safety rules and proper installation of car seats here.