Bedford Driving Lessons

Children should ride in rear-facing car seats until they are at least two years old, safety experts believe. The fresh recommendations were issued today by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They updated their advice after research showed that one-year-olds were five times less likely to be injured in a crash if they are in a rear-facing car seat than a forward-facing seat. Their findings were based on a 2007 analysis of five years of date from crashes in the United States. That means an estimated 1,000 children injured in forward-facing seats over 15 years might not have been hurt if they had been in a car seat facing the back, said Dr. Dennis Durbin, lead author of the recommendations and a pediatric emergency physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Toddlers have relatively large heads and small necks. In a front-facing car seat, the force of a crash can jerk the child’s head causing spinal cord injuries. Car seats have recommended weights printed on them. If a one-year-old outweighed the recommendation of an infant seat, parents should switch to a different rear-facing car seat that accommodates the heavier weight until they turn two, the pediatricians group says.  More