September 18, 2025

Parents and caregivers: Ensure children are in the right seat

Hanover Park, IL – The Illinois Department of Transportation is reminding parents and caregivers that child passengers are best protected in a crash when they are correctly buckled in the right seats for their ages and sizes. Car seats and booster seats have height and weight limits, and children should stay in each seat until they outgrow those limits. The safest place for all children under 13 is the back seat, as airbags in the front seat are designed for adult passengers.

Vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children, and the latest research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that 46% of car seats are misused. Common issues include children being in the wrong type of car seat for their age and size, and car seats being installed incorrectly — both of which leave children vulnerable to injury in a crash. In 2024, 32 children under 14 were killed in traffic crashes.

“You don’t want to be overconfident when it comes to your child’s safety,” said Deputy Chief Victor DiVito. “Caregivers need to know for sure that their children are in the right seats and that those seats are installed correctly.”

Keeping a child in the right seat for their age and size can make all the difference in the event of a crash. Car seats have been shown to reduce fatal injury by 71% for infants under 1 year old and by 54% for toddlers 1 to 4 years old in passenger cars. Infants have the highest rate of car seat use among children who survived fatal crashes in 2024 - for those under 1 year old, 95% of those infants were buckled. Once a child outgrows a rear-facing car seat, they are ready for a forward-facing car seat with a harness. Only after reaching the maximum height or weight limits of a forward-facing car seat — which takes longer than most parents think — a child should be buckled in a booster seat until large enough to fit in an adult seat belt correctly.

Booster seats are a crucial step between harnessed car seats and adult seatbelts. If the seat belt doesn’t fit a child correctly, it won’t offer them optimal protection in a crash. In 2024, the number of children killed in passenger vehicle crashes was highest for children ages 8 to 12. Once a child is ready to use a seat belt, parents should ensure that it fits correctly — that the seat belt lies across the upper thighs and is snug across the shoulder and chest, away from the face and neck.

For more information on Seat Check Saturday and car seats, visit Buckle Up Illinois.