AAA Arizona, SAFE KIDS Maricopa County Join Forces to Save Child Passengers’ Lives
Click here for a fact sheet with statistics on crashes and child safety seat effectiveness
Phoenix, Ariz., January 17, 2008 – AAA Arizona and SAFE KIDS Maricopa County teamed up this morning to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the nation’s first child safety seat law, which went into effect in January, 1978.
A live demonstration showed the proper method to install a child safety seat and the correct way to secure a child in it. Those in attendance also saw a display of 28 child safety seats, representing the number of child passengers, aged 7 and under, killed on Arizona roadways in 2006. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration data, only three other states had more child passenger fatalities than Arizona in that year. Sadly, with the use of a proper restraint, most of these fatalities could have been prevented.
“While nearly 8,700 children’s lives have been saved by the proper use of child restraints since 1975, there are still hundreds of children killed and thousands injured each year as the result of improper use of a safety seat, or no use of a safety seat at all,” said Linda Gorman, public affairs manager for AAA Arizona. “In fact, a recent survey showed that 72 percent of parents are not using car seats correctly.”
Unfortunately, Arizona’s child passenger safety seat laws are less stringent than other parts of the country. Arizona is one of 12 states that only require children under the age of five and/or 40 pounds to be secured in a federally approved car seat. The other 38 states and the District of Columbia have laws that further require children to sit in booster seats from a range of six to nine years of age or 48 inches tall.
While it is not required by law in Arizona, children under 4’9” who weigh less than 80 pounds should sit in a car/booster seat to maximize their safety. In fact, studies have shown that using a booster seat with a lap and shoulder belt (as opposed to a seatbelt alone) can reduce a child’s risk of injury by 59 percent.
 “Though young children are likely to be restrained in a safety seat, those between the ages of four and seven are often improperly restrained for their size and age,” said Mike Tellef, president of SAFE KIDS Maricopa County and public information officer for Peoria Police Department. “It is important for parents to understand that when a child seat is installed and used properly, they are drastically curbing the likelihood of their child being injured or killed in a vehicle crash.”
AAA Arizona, the Arizona affiliate of AAA, provides automotive, insurance and auto travel services to nearly 775,000 Arizona members. Annually, AAA’s Emergency Road Service responds to more than 450,000 calls for help on the streets and highways of the state as well as providing insurance, travel, and financial services to AAA members and motorists. Since its founding in 1927, AAA Arizona has been a leading advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.
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