Nearly 30 percent of consumers who drive with children 12 and under in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee say they rarely or never use a car/booster seat, according to a AAA Consumer PulseTM survey. Additionally, 27 percent of those who don’t always use a car/booster seat report they don’t put children in a car or booster seat because the law doesn’t require it.

For information on state child passenger safety laws, visit AAA’s Digest of Motor Laws.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), car crashes are the number one killer of children one to 12 years old in the United States. Many of these deaths could have been prevented. Additionally, traffic safety experts agree that children are moving to adult safety belts too soon. Safety belt systems in vehicles are made for adults that are at least 4’9” tall and poorly fitting safety belts can lead to serious injury or even death.

The use of booster seats can reduce injuries by 59 percent compared to using an adult safety belt alone, according to NHTSA. Children who have outgrown their 5-point harness car seat by weight or height should use a booster seat until they reach 4’9” (typically between the ages of 8-12). However, it is often a step skipped too quickly with the anticipation of moving to a regular adult safety belt. In fact, two in five (41 percent) respondents said they would determine that a child doesn’t need to be in a booster based on the child’s age, showed the AAA Consumer PulseTM survey.