Anyone who grew up in 50s, 60s, or 70s can recall that as a child the only car restraint consisted of your mom or dad shooting out an arm, which acted as a barrier between you and the dashboard. Now, in reality that gesture was more wishful thinking than an actual security and safety measure.
Well, you would think with all the advances in technology, and protective children’s seats that things would be going well for youngsters. Well, apparently, Oregon is behind the curves, so to speak, and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has recently reported an increase in the number or injuries for children ages 7 to 11 years of age.
“The increase in injuries in the 7 – 11 age group is due in large part to child passengers moving to adult belts too soon,” said Oregon’s Occupant Protection Program Manager Carla Levinski. “When it is too soon, the child’s legs aren’t long enough to bend at the leading edge of their seat or the shoulder belt rides on the neck. To compensate, the child will either put the shoulder belt under their arm or behind their back or slide down in the seat so the lap belt ends up on the stomach instead of the hips where it needs to be. Both of these situations greatly decrease the effectiveness of the belt and put the child at risk of serious injuries.”1
Oregon Child Seat Statistics and Details
Not only have Oregon children been injured as a result of improper seat restraints, but ODOT’s data shows that the number of children passengers killed or injured has risen more than 9 percent from 1,564 to 1,7212 in 2015. Law enforcement officers have even been directed to keep a lookout for offenders not properly restraining children in passenger vehicles.
Number of Children Killed and Injured in Oregon Crashes (2011-2015) |
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2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
1,564 | 1,450 | 1,558 | 1,564 | 1,712 |
What are Oregon’s Laws Regarding Seat Restraints for Child Safety?
The following are Oregon laws regarding children in passenger vehicles:
- Children weighing less than 40 lbs. need to be restrained in a child seat.
- Children one year of age or younger or weighing less than 40 lbs. must be restrained in a rear-facing protective seat.
- Children over 40 lbs. must be restrained by a child seat or a booster seat that is height and weight proportional until they reach the age eight or 4’9” tall, and a seat belt system fits them correctly.
Contact a Beaverton Car Accident Attorney at the Weimar Law Offices
If you or a loved one was injured in a car accident as the result of someone else’s negligent driving, call Beaverton Car Accident Attorney Linda Weimar. Weimar is aggressive at pursuing justice for her clients. Since 1997, Attorney Linda Weimar has provided the highest standard of legal services for victims of negligent people that need to be held accountable for their careless actions.
To set up a free legal consultation with Linda Weimer, call (503) 640-5000 or email us using the Contact form on this page.
From our offices in Beaverton, Attorney Linda Weimar represents people with various types of personal injury claims throughout Washington County, including in West Side and Hillsboro.
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1“A month-long campaign will focus on buckling up properly” published in ODOT new releases, August 2016.