An infant is the only victim of a fatal two-vehicle crash in Brown County, Wisconsin.
The accident occurred at about 8:25 p.m. Saturday, March 3. It was raining and the roads were slippery. A 22-year-old Green Bay woman was driving north on County Road R in Ledgeview. She lost control of her Toyota Camry and skidded into a sport utility vehicle headed south. As the cars crashed, the car seat came loose and was thrown forward. The two-year-old infant inside died at the accident scene. The adults, the woman driver and a couple from Denmark in the SUV, sustained only minor injuries.
Car seats are an infant’s best protection in a car accident and can reduce the risk of death in a Wisconsin car accident by 71 percent, but only if they are used correctly. In November of this year, the non-profit group Safe Kids USA released a study that showed most parents don’t use car seats correctly. The study was based on more than 79,000 car seat checklists collected at Safe Kids USA car-seat inspection events
One of the biggest problems was also the easiest to fix. Only 30 percent of parents use the tether straps that keep the tops of child seats and children’s heads safely secured in crashes. These straps are attached to the car seat and hook to an in-car attachment point. They are part of the LATCH system, which makes car seat installation easier by eliminating the need to wrestle with tightening traditional seat belts.
The Milwaukee personal injury attorneys at Hupy and Abraham urge all Wisconsin parents to get their car seats checked by a car seat installation professional. Contact your local police or fire department for more information.