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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

It Takes More than a Seat Belt to Keep Kids Safe in a Car

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Monday, September 15, 2014   

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. but it takes more than clicking the seat belt to keep them safe. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while the appropriate car or booster seat can reduce injuries by more than half, most are not used properly. Dawne Gardner, a state-certified child passenger technician at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, says a child should ride in the correct seat for their weight and height, and should stay in a rear-facing seat until they outgrow it.

"When they turn them forward too soon, the child is open to internal injuries from the seat belts and the harnesses, because their bodies aren't strong enough to hold them in place during a collision," says Gardner.

Installing a car seat can be tricky, Gardner recommends having a trained technician take a look to ensure it's correct.

It's National Child Passenger Safety Week, and free car-seat checks are being offered around Ohio. Many fire or health departments and hospitals also offer free car-seat inspections on a monthly basis.

Decades ago, children were not required to use a safety seat, but Gardner says there are important reasons that has changed.

"Cars are different, speed limits are different, roads are different," she says. "As we follow the data, we know that seat belts and booster seats, forward-facing seats, and rear-facing seats save lives."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates more than half the children killed in car crashes each year would be alive today if seat belt and child safety seat use were at 100 percent. Under Ohio law, children must ride in a car seat until age four and weigh at least 40 pounds. Kids ages four to eight must be in a booster seat until reaching a height of four feet, nine inches.


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