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Road accidents, youclaim.co.uk

Car accident injury prevention for children

In a car accident children require different protection from that provided for adults. Since 1983 it has been a legal requirement for all occupants of a car to be restrained by suitable safety belts, but it was not until September 2006, that new and very specific laws were introduced to give the best possible protection to children travelling in cars.

Children in a car accident
In a car crash, the vehicle often stops very abruptly, but the occupants continue travelling forward until they meet resistance. An unrestrained passenger is likely to come into contact with interior structure or the windscreen and this can cause horrific and often life-threatening injuries.

Safety belts are designed to keep the passenger away from the vehicle structure and to use the strongest parts of the body to absorb the forces of crash, whilst causing minimum harm to soft tissues.

Modern three point seatbelts are designed for adults – children are not merely smaller versions of adults, they are proportioned very differently and their major organs are located in different places to adults'. As children grow their tissues have different strengths and weaknesses and their needs change.

Safety restraints from birth to childhood and beyond
Manufacturers use different names and criteria for their products, but as a general guide the following ranges of restraints are available. The height and weight of the child is of great importance.

  • Rear facing baby seats - suitable from birth to approximately 9 or 12 months respectively (up to 10kg or 13kg). The restraint system limits head movement and distributes forces over as wide an area as possible. Protection is provided from frontal and side impact;

  • Forward facing child seats - suitable from approximately 9 months to 12 years (There are three different groups in this category for a range of weights from 9 to 36 kg). Many have integral harnesses; they are designed to limit head movement in a crash and spread side and frontal impact forces over the widest area possible. Certain makes include an integral booster seat;

  • Booster seats - For when a child has outgrown a child safety seat or weighs from 15kg to 25kg. The booster seat is designed to lift the child to a position where the lap belt of the adult three point harness lies low across the pelvis, so as to prevent damage to internal organs, and to prevent the child sliding out from under the belt in a forward impact.

Particular care must be made to follow vehicle and child seat manufacturer's instructions for the placement of seats in cars with frontal air bags, as the deployment of an airbag can cause harm to an infant in a rear facing child seat. Please contact your child car seat supplier for more information on the legal implications of children and safety restraints.

Car accident compensation for you and your child
When a child is injured in a car accident it can be an extremely distressing time, but if you or your child has received personal injury as a result of a crash that was not your fault securing compensation can help your family on the road to recovery.

Working on a no win, no fee basis our personal injury solicitors adhere to the strict and exacting standards laid down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Our success rate is high and you are guaranteed to receive 100 per cent compensation in the event of a successful claim. Win or lose you will have been protected from all fees – it is a truly cost free, no win, no fee service

Call our free UK helpline on 0800 10 757 95 or have an e-chat. If it's not convenient right now we can call you back, or you could give us a few details about your car accident by filling in our online claim form and we will call you to discuss going ahead with the claim.


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