Car Safety for Kids

You love your children and would do anything for them. The Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety hopes that includes taking the time to properly restrain them when they're riding in the car.

And infant's weight is crucial to putting that infant in the correct seat. All safety seats must meet Federal motor vehicle safety standards.

And while the seat itself is important, the direction of that seat in the car can save little lives. Infant safety seats are equipped with harness straps, but where do the straps go? And that's particularly important due to a baby's physical immaturity.

Making sure your child is in a car seat, another way to keep them safe. Yesterday, Amy Edwards with the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, explained the importance of infant safety seats.

"After a child has outgrown their out rear facing child safety seat, the next seat for them is going to be forward-facing. It can either be a convertible seat or a combination.

Usually, rear-facing car seats hold infants up to 20 pounds. When turned around, they average 40-50 pounds. Then it's time for a booster seat."

Amy Edwards also says, "There are two types of booster seats for toddlers, the low back booster seat or the high back booster seats, those are needed when there's no head rest in the vehicle.

The purpose of the booster seat is to boost the child up and keep them at the proper height so that the safety belt fits them correctly across the collar bone and the lap bone."

Georgia law requires that children stay in a booster seat or a child safety seat that's appropriate for their height and weight until they reach the age of 6, and they go ahead and stay in the safety seat until the seat belt fits them correctly. And a lot of times, that isn't going to be until they're eight years old. Most booster seats go up to 100 pounds.