One in Four Parents Have Driven Without Child Properly Restrained
Published at
Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images(NEW YORK) — A report from Safe Kids Worldwide on Monday found that one in four parents have driven without their child being buckled up in a car or booster seat.
Surprisingly, more affluent parents, younger parents and those with higher levels of education were more likely to be among those who found it acceptable to drive without proper child restraints in place.
Nearly one-third of parents with a household income over $100,000 said that driving without their child in a car or booster seat is acceptable if not driving a far distance, much higher than the 15 percent of parents making less than $35,000 when asked the same question.
The report found that 23 percent of parents between the ages of 18 and 29 believe that it was acceptable to drive with their child unrestrained when travelling overnight, this compared to the 13 percent of parents between the ages of 30 and 49.
Additionally, those parents with graduate degrees were twice as likely to say they found it acceptable to drive without restraining their child when in a rush than those with just a high school education.
The Safe Kids Worldwide report points out that car crashes are a leading cause of death to American children, and nearly one-third of children killed in car crashes in 2011 were not buckled in at the time.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio