According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of serious injury and death for children 7 and younger. Between 2019 and 2023, preliminary data shows that 89% of more than 12,800 children involved in an automobile crash in Minnesota but were restrained were not injured. Another 10% suffered minor injuries, Department of Public said.

According to AAA on national data, from 2017-2021 more than 3.9 million children ages 10 and younger were involved in car crashes while riding in a vehicle. AAA research states, that when used properly, infant seats, boosters and seat belts will effectively protect young passengers — reducing fatalities by 71% for infants younger than 1 and by 54% for those younger than 4.

On Aug. 1, a new law went into effect in Minnesota. The new law aligns Minnesota’s child passenger safety requirements with national best practices by specifying who must issue a child restraint, and how.

While numbers don’t really process with parents who are busy getting children back and forth to school or day care before rushing off to work, they do put in focus the consequences when cutting corners. Let’s face it, children are our most precious cargo in vehicles.

The previous Minnesota statute required parents to follow a car seat’s manufacturer’s instruction on height, weight. The new statute strengthens guidelines.

The statute requires:

• Children under 2 sit rear-facing in an infant or convertible child safety seat

• Children who are at least 2 years old and have outgrown the rear-facing seat with internal harness by either height or weight sit forward-facing with an internal harness

• Children who are at least 4 years old and have outgrown the forward-facing seat with harness by either height or weight ride restrained in a belt-positioning booster seat using the lap belt and shoulder belt.

• Children who are 9 years old or have outgrown the booster seat and can pass the five-step test that demonstrates how the seat belt fits correctly ride restrained with a lap belt and shoulder bet secured correctly on the vehicle occupant, regardless of age.

What is the five-step test to correctly fit a seatbelt. According to AAA:

1. The child should sit all the way back against the vehicle seatbelt

2. The child’s knees should bend over the edge of the vehicle seatbelt

3. The lap belt should fit snugly across the hips near the top of the child’s thighs, not the child’s abdomen

4. The shoulder belt snugly crosses the center of the child’s chest and shoulder, not the child’s neck

5. The child sits correctly, without slouching, for the duration of the ride

We urge parents to treat these guidelines as more than following the law. Everybody thinks they are perfect drivers. However, you can’t control the other driver. A person can be driving dangerously or erratically because of being impaired or being distracted.

For that reason, follow the new law as if you are protecting your most precious cargo.