As Orlando car accident lawyers we are troubled by an alarming number of children injured in car accidents who were seatbelts. The trouble, it seems, is that these children were not large enough to be properly protected by adult seatbelts and shoulder harnesses. Unfortunately, parents may be abandoning child safety seats or boosters prematurely.

A recent study I came across from Australia supports our experience. The Medical Journal of Australia reports that children in adult seatbelts are on average about 2.7 times more likely to suffer an injury in a car accident than adults wearing the same type of seatbelt.

Sadly, many children are too young when they begin to use adult seatbelts and they do not use them correctly. Children are shorter than adults, have relatively larger heads, and smaller hip bones. So the harness of an adult seatbelt tends to lie across a child’s face or neck and the lap portion rides up across the abdomen rather than the waist as in an adult. In an accident, the belt causes head, neck and abdominal injuries.

To make matters worse, they tend to slouch and slump in their seats. This means the harness tends to get in the way, so they put it under their arms or behind their backs. Then all that is restraining them is the lap belt. In an accident, the child moves forward against the belt, causing internal abdominal injuries like bruising, tears, and perforations of their intestines. And the head, now free to move forward, can hit the knees or seat in front, causing head and neck injuries.

Until children are tall enough to remain properly positioned, child safety restraints or seats should be used. Reaching a certain age does not guarantee the safe use of automobile seatbelts and shoulder harnesses. It is important for parents to ensure their child “measures up.”