FOR PARENTS
What You Need to Know About Booster Seats
Many parents are surprised to learn that safety belts generally do NOT fit children until they are between 8 and 12 years of age. Booster seats, used after children outgrow car seats with harnesses, are needed until that time.
Question: How can you know if your child (or the child you transport) is big enough to use the safety belt?
Answer: Use the Safety Belt Fit Test on every child under 13 you transport. Remember too, that all children under age 13 should ride properly restrained in a back seat.
Download the Safety Belt fit test
Car seats and booster seats are designed to protect children and make them comfortable at the same time. There's nothing comfortable about a too-big safety belt cutting into a child's stomach or pressing against his face. Plus, kids who ride on booster seats can easily see many things they would otherwise miss.
The Spotters Club
Safe Kids Worldwide has a new club for children ages of 6-8 called the Spotter's Club. It teaches kids riding on boosters to “spot” other kids doing safe things, both inside and outside their car.
You can obtain a Spotter's Club Activity and Coloring book and membership card for your child ages 6-8, by attending a Safe Kids Check Up event in your area.
To find an event in your community please check our event listing click here or contact your local Safe Kids Coalition.
What You Need to Know About Carpools
Carpools are a way of life in our busy world. Make sure you know how to select the right person to drive your child and that they are safe, licensed, insured and interested in your child's safety.
Use our checklist to know what questions to ask of the person who transports your child. Selecting a Carpool Driver
Question: Are you interested in starting a carpool of parents who are safety conscious, like you?
Question: Does your child know what to say when other kids ask why he or she rides on a booster seat?
Always Remember
Remember, your child is counting on you to protect him or her! Ensure that your child always rides safely in your car, and prepare older children to “think safety” if they are ever in a car where no car seat or booster seat is available.
Make sure they know how to protect themselves by sitting in a back seat and using a safety belt. Fifty percent of children who died in 2004 in motor vehicles were completely unrestrained. Don't let your child become a statistic.
For the best protection, on every ride use a car seat or booster seat, based on your child's age, weight and height. And remember to buckle yourself every time, in every vehicle. Your child will do as you do!
Find Out More
To find a Safe Kids coalition near you, please visit our Web site at www.usa.safekids.org
Resources to help you keep your kid safe
Safety Belt Test
Download Checklist
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20004-1707
Phone: 202-662-0600
Fax: 202-393-2072
www.usa.safekids.org
www.safekids.org
Support Safe Kids 
Sign up for eNews Find a Coalition More About CPS Safety Media Center