Child and Tween Car Seat Safety Tips Plus Wimpy Kid PSA

Every 33 seconds a child under 13 is involved in a car crash in the United States. For younger children, car seats can dramatically reduce the risk of fatality or injury – but over half of car seats are either installed or used incorrectly. For older children, buckling up is critical. A full 50% of children age 8-14 who were killed in car crashes from 2011-2015 were not restrained.

That’s why we want parents and caregivers to know about the importance of making sure their child is safely restrained—whether that’s selecting the right car seat for their child’s age and size, or making sure that older kids (8-14) always buckle their seat belts and sit in the backseat.

As parents, we all want to do the right thing to keep our children safe and sound.  This spring, the Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are unveiling new PSAs to address these important issues.  First, is the up to date car seat safety information like the tips found in the fun new video series “The Wide World of Car Seats.”

The right car seat can make all the difference in a motor vehicle crash. And car crashes are a leading cause of death for children 1 to 13 years old.  But despite their best intentions, many parents may not realize their child isn’t in the right seat.  For example, many parents move their children to the next restraint type (car seat, booster seat, seat belt) too soon. To make sure you have the right seat for your child, visitSaferCar.gov/TheRightSeat.


And just when you think you’ve got this parenting thing down, your child becomes a “tween” and you enter a whole new world.  To help with travel safety, the Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are unveiling new PSAs featuring characters from Fox’s upcoming summer road trip adventure Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul. The PSAs remind parents and caregivers that even if kids argue and plead, parents should stand firm and always insist that their kids buckle up and sit in the back seat (the safest place for kids under the age of 13)

 I’ve been training my kids since they were young about the importance of seat belt and travel safety, so luckily I don’t have to work very hard to convince them to be safe.  It’s just expected. That expectation doesn’t mean I assume my kids are buckled up, I always check in the mirror and listen for the familiar click.  I’ve also noticed that buckling up is not always automatic when we have friends in the car.  I’m not afraid to require everyone in my car to buckle up and find that most kids are willing to do it when asked.

My kids have also observed their friends being allowed to ride in the front seat inside the neighborhood which has led to begging and pleading for front seat privileges.  When my oldest daughter was just an infant, a 12 year old boy was killed in a low impact collision in a local grocery store parking lot.  He was sitting in the front seat, which is more dangerous for kids.  This experience has stuck with me and reminds me that my children’s safety is far more important than my popularity for the day or week.  So it’s easy for me to know that this is a battle I’m willing to fight every day.)  

Per data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 69,000 tweens are injured every year in car crashes and 61% of 14-year-old children killed in 2015 car crashes were unrestrained at the time of the crash.  Even though life as a parent is full of compromises, seat belt safety should never be up for negotiation. That’s why the new PSAs encourage us to: “Never give up until they buckle up!”

For more information or if you need more tips to convince your tween to buckle up, visit SaferCar.gov/KidsBuckleUp.  If you have a great tip, join the conversation on social media using: #KidsBuckleUp.