Children, especially those under the age of 5, are vulnerable in collisions because of the size and shape of their bodies. Child safety seats are designed to spread the force of a crash over more of the body for forward-facing toddlers and to cradle the fragile neck and back of rear-facing infants.
Child safety seats are the most effective occupant protection devices used in motor vehicles today. They serve three main purposes:
- Prevent ejection in a crash. Passengers thrown from vehicles are four times more likely to be killed than those who remain inside.
- Spread forces from a crash over a wide area of the child's body, instead of focusing all of the force on one area.
- Allows the child and/or his safety seat to "ride down" a crash slowly and resist projectile-like movements (up and down or side-to-side) during a crash.
