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The number one killer of children in the United States that are younger than age 14 years old age are car accidents.

The reason for this is that many car seats 95% of them are installed incorrectly or used incorrectly or not at all. Laws in the United States say that an infant must be in a rear facing car seat up to 1 year AND 20 pounds. This is the bare minimum. The American Academy of Pediactrics (sp?) (AAP) revised their guidelines to rearface up until age 2, but rear facing past age 2 is even better if the child can fit in the weight and height limits of the seat. This means that after using an infant car seat, parents are advised to switch to a convertible car seat because infant car seats, like the ones with a stay in car base, are only rated for use up to 20-25 pounds. This means that parents, after using their infant only car seat, must purchase a brand new car seat that rear faces longer. The longest rear facing car seat available in the United States is the Diono Radian RXT that rear faces up to 45 pounds. (The Diono Radian RXT used to be know as the Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL). There are many options though with convertible car seats that rear face up to 40 pounds besides the radian such as Britax convertibles like the Advocate, Boulevard, or Marathon. Common mistakes involved with the use of rear facing car seats is not having the angle correctly. For small infants (up to 1 year old) they should ride at a 45 degree angle. Convertibles may be placed at a more upright angle sometimes as high as 30 degrees. Please consult your car seat manual before changing the angle of the seat. The harness must fit at or below the child's shoulders when rear facing. The harness must not have any slack. The chest clip must be placed at arm-pit level. To remember this, the chest clip is called a chest clip, not a belly clip. When installing either a rear facing car seat or a front facing car seat with latch or with a seat belt, it must not move more than 1 inch from side to side. Do not use the tether unless it says that you can do so in the manual. Tethers are preferable if they are allowed on your rear facing seat.

Furthermore, after using a convertible, many parents choose to move their children in a booster seat. Car seats such as the Britax Frontier 85 (or Frontier 85 SICT) can leave a child in a five point harness car seat up to 85 pounds and in booster mode up to 120 pounds. Many children can be harnessed up to age 6-9 easily with this car seat (depending on the size and height of the child). When forward facing, the straps must be at or above the child's shoulders. Note that while rear facing and forward facing he strap placement is different. Like rear facing, the harness straps must not have any slack and the chest clip must be at armpit level. Front facing car seats, like rear facing, when installed, must not move more than 1 inch from side to side. The use of the tether is advised. A tether is a strap that connects to the top part of the seat. Use the tether even if you installed the car seat with the seat belt. This can limit the movement of a carseat in a limit up to 8 inches.

The misuse in booster seats is using them too soon and leaving them too early. To start a booster, children must be 4 years old AND 40 pounds to qualify for a booster. This is a guideline and may or may not be a law in your state. Some boosters allow children to use them at 30 pounds, but 4 years old and 40 pounds is best practice. This means that if the child is 6 years old at 35 pounds they should still be in a 5 point harness car seat because this is an "AND" requirement.

Seat belts in cars fit the average adult body. To leave a booster, the guideline is that children should be in a booster up until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall or if they fit the adult seat belt. Many parents mistaken that after using a 5 point harness front facing car seat they can automatically move their child into an adult seat belt. In the United States, laws vary with booster seat use but 8 years old is generally the cut off age. This could prove dangerous if your 9 year old does not fit the adult seat belt.

Booster seats can only be used if there is a lap AND shoulder belt in that seating position. High back versions must be used if the vehicle does not have headrests like in some vans. High back versions are more preferable because they postion the shoulder belt correctly on the child. Also, they offer protection for side impact car crashes. Many parents are mistaken that booster seats have to be crash tested. Booster seats are not required to crash test at all because the vehicle seat belt restrains the child in a crash. (Diono, formally known as Sunshine Kids, publishes all of their crash test information). Anyhow, the job of booster seats are to boost the child up so the vehicle lap and shoulder belt fits correctly. Correct use of a booster means that the lap and shoulder belt does not ride up on the stomach and does not cut across the neck. Different booster seats may have to be used with different vehicles because some boosters may not position the lap and shoulder belt correctly.

To determine if a child is ready to be out of a booster seat and to use the adult seat belt the child must pass the 5 step test:

Be tall enough to sit without slouching

keep his/her knees and buttocks against the vehicle seat back

keep his/her kness completely bent over the edge of the seat

keep his/her feet flat on the floor

Be able to be comfortably seated this way, AND

The vehicle seat belt must be positioned correctly across the child's hips and the shoulder belt must be positioned correctly across the test.

All of these must apply. Although parents are given that 4 feet 9 inches is the magic number, some children even at 4 feet 9 inches may not fit the adult seat belt correctly in a vehicle. Age does not matter with booster seat use, size matters and children are all different sizes, so children may not reach 4 feet 9 inches until they are between 8-12 years of age.

In addition to all this information on child restraints, all children 13 and under should ride in the back seat as air bags are not designed for children. If a child must sit in the front seat, put the seat as far back as possible and then use a booster seat if the seat belt does not fit the child.

Remember car accidents are the number one killer of children in the United States. Your child has a better chance of dying in a car accident, than by drowning, burning, or by catching a deadly disease.

Do what is best for your child, for anyone who is reading this. Remember your manual is your friend. I'm only 16 and I memorized all of this information, so you can also. I might be wrong about "all children 13 and under should ride in the back seat" it could be age "12" or "14". Sorry for any gramatical error, but make sure you read your car seat manual AND YOUR vehicle manual. If you lost it, you old geezers, go online and find it. Read it. Read it. It's important that you read your vehicle manual because you may be unable to use latch in the center seating position or your latch anchors to your vehicle may fail after a certain weight like at 40 pounds you must restrain the car seat with the seat belt because the anchors may fail. "Fail" may not necessarily mean that the anchors do not restrain the car seat, but that they may bent out of heck after in an accident.

Some other information may be that the center seating position in the back is that safest because in a side impact you do not hit the door. Common sense huh? Make sure though you install it correctly in the center. You can obviously only place one child there. I would recommend that you place the rear facing seats on the outside and place the boostered child in the center (if there is a lap and should belt available there) because rear facing seats are better off than your boostered child.

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12y ago
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14y ago

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for children. Children that are not buckled up, or in a proper car seat are far more likely to be killed or injured in a crash. Wear your seat belt.

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14y ago

This is a list of, across the board, top killers.

The top 5 Killers in America are: (I added a sixth just incase you only wanted diseases.)

Heart disease: 696,947

Cancer: 557,271

Stroke: 162,672

Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,816

Accidents: 106,742

Diabetes: 73,249

And the top 5 killers in the world are:

1. Ischaemic Heart disease 7,208 12.6%

2. Cerebrovascular disease 5,509 9.7%

3. Lower Respiratory infections 3,884 6.8%

4. HIV/AIDS 2,777 4.9%

5. Chronic Obstructive Pulminary disease 2,748 4.8%

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9y ago

The number one killer in America is CVD cardio vascular diseases.

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14y ago

Heart disease is the number one killer. In 2006, for example 631,000 people died in the US of heart disease.

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9y ago

Heart disease is responsible for the most deaths each year. Other major causes of death worldwide include strokes and COPD.

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14y ago

Cancer remains the main cause of death in both men and women, according to the Department of Health.

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12y ago
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11y ago

Heart disease

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Q: What is the number one killer in America?
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