Houston County Health Department shares car seat safety tips

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – On Thursday night, a little girl’s life came to an end, when the car she was traveling in, came to a stop.

“When we first heard of the incident, we immediately thought, were they at least in some sort of seat protection, were they buckled up, Anything?,” said Brittney Stewart, a health educator at the Houston County Health Department.

The two-year-old was sitting in her car seat, but it was placed in the front seat.

“Children, their spine and neck are more like building blocks,” said Stewart. “If you were to push them over, they would completely shatter across the floor.”

The Georgia State Patrol is still investigating what happened in Thursday’s accident, but the Houston County Coroner says the little girl died from multiple traumatic injures. Her dad walked away with almost no injuries.

“Adults, our neck and spine are more like Legos,” said Stewart. “They connect more. So we are able to take a bigger brunt of an accident, because we’re able to bounce back.”

Stewart recommends avoid putting a child in the front seat.

“It’s safer and less dangerous for a child to be behind a passenger or the driver, seat, simply because we’re able to take impact,” said Stewart.

The Georgia law allows children to sit in the front with a car seat, if there isn’t a back seat.

“We understand that some situations, circumstances are different,” said Stewart. “Some children do have to ride in the front and if they do, put that seat all the way back as far as possible from the airbag. Just in case of an accident and that airbag deploys.”

If your car does have backseats, put them there. Stewart says, the further back, the better.

“At the end of the day, parents want to keep their children safe, and I’m sure they could take the brunt of a vehicle, the impact from their child, they would,” said Stewart.

The Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction team is investigating the Perry accident from Thursday night.

The Health Department offers multiple classes on car-seat safety. If you can’t afford a car-seat, Stewart says they do everything they can to get you one. You can visit their website NorthCentralHealthDistrict.org, for more information.