By Staff
We would like to applaud the efforts of those in the law enforcement community, parent groups and anyone else involved in the push to make children safer while riding in automobiles.
A recent study shows that children 12 and under who ride in the back seats of cars are much safer than those who do not.
In fact, the death toll from accidents declined by almost 20 percent. That is a significant difference for which we all should be proud.
According to an article in USA Today, the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said that moving the children from the front seat to the back seat is one of the "most remarkably successful changes in societal behavior in recent decades, rivaling changes in attitudes toward smoking and drunk driving."
The effort to make vehicles safer for children to ride in all began in 1996 after dozens of children were killed by air bags while riding in front seats.
Federal safety officials urged parents to put their children 13 and under in the back seat to keep them out of harm's way when air bags deployed.
In fact, those same safety officials still urge that children 13 and under are much safer riding in the back seats whether or not the automobile has air bags.
The study, which will be published next week in the Journal of Safety Research, is the most comprehensive yet.
The study showed that children 13-years-old and under who were killed in traffic accidents fell by 18 percent from 1995 to 2003. More impressive was the fact that the number of children killed in the front seat dropped from 586 to 314. That's almost 50 percent.
The study was funded by the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign, another group which deserves our admiration for aiding in helping protect our children. While the news is good, there are still concerns that we will begin to let our guard down. Many are afraid that with the advanced air bags being introduced into new models will have parents thinking it is okay to put their children back in the front seat.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Although the air bags are better, it is still much safer for children 13 and under to continue to ride in the back seat.
So congratulations to all those involved with improving the safety of our children.
We applaud you and hope that you keep up the good work.
Remember, just because a car might have new, more advanced air bags doesn't mean your children should ride in front.
Keep your children in the back seat and keep them safe.