CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT!

The first part of understanding exactly why your child NEEDS a safety seat (and you need a seatbelt!) is to understand what happens during a crash.

 

In every crash there are three major impacts: the first is the automobile hitting another object. This could be a ditch, a tree or another vehicle. The second impact is your body hitting the interior of the vehicle. If one is silly enough to not wear a seatbelt, this could mean the dashboard, steering wheel or windshield, but for the wise this generally means the seatbelt and airbag. The third would be your internal organs crashing into your skeleton. In a severe enough crash, your brain could impact your skull with enough force to cause permanent brain damage or death.

 

It is better to have the first crash absorb the majority of the energy from the collision. Cars are designed to slow down the time it takes your body to stop. This reduces the force needed to stop your body. That's why cars are built with crumple zones, airbags and seatbelts, all of which absorb crash forces. The longer it takes for your body to stop, the less force is needed to stop you.

 

There is a basic equation you can use to calculate how much force is necessary to stop quickly.

 

MASS (weight) X SPEED = FORCE

 

So a 3,000 pound(lb) vehicle traveling at 20 miles per hour (mph) requires 60,000 pounds of stopping force. If that doesn't make you appreciate your breaking system nothing will!

 

Your body also requires a great deal of stopping force at even a low-speed collision.  A 150 lb man traveling at 25 mph requires 1.5+ tons of force to stop.

 

Here is a video of a crash simulator at a mere 7 miles per hour:

 

 

 

That's why unrestrained passengers are such a danger to others; even a very small person can cause fatal injuries to another passenger. A ten pound infant in a ten mile per hour crash can impact others in the vehicle (or the windshield) with one hundred pounds of force!

 

As the old saying goes, it's not the fall that kills you (or, in our analogy, the crash!) it's the sudden stop at the end. The more slowly you stop, the less likely death becomes.

 

Most crashes happen at very low speeds; 35 mph or less. This is because crashes at full speed are VERY rare. Less than 3% of all crashes are at speeds greater than 35 mph. These crashes are the automotive equivalent of the atomic bomb. You might survive, but statistically it's not likely. This is why it is imperative to ALWAYS buckle up - even for those "just around the corner" low-speed trips.