“I remember being excited the night before,” Michele recalls.

That feeling of excitement was the last thing Michele remembered when she woke up days later in the hospital.

Michele and Brooke never made it to the lake house. They were in a car crash. Severely injured, Michele had several fractures, a bleeding spleen, respiratory failure and a head injury. She spent several days in ICU in a drug-induced coma.

Brooke was in the center position of the back seat strapped into a rear-facing, convertible car seat. She suffered no injuries.

How did Brooke come away from the crash unscathed when Michele almost lost her life?

Just weeks prior to the crash, Michelle attended a Safe Kids luncheon. A career firefighter and EMT, she was also a part-time educator with the Cobb County Fire Department. She wanted to learn how to protect her daughter and others in the community.

The luncheon presenters used her car seat for demonstration. It took them less than an hour to show how to properly install the car seat.

“I had it placed behind the driver seat, not tight enough and the harness straps were too high. We finally placed it in the middle. This literally saved Brooke’s life, since I was hit on my driver side with a 29" intrusion,” Michele said. “It was embarrassing to find out that I had it installed all wrong. But those 45 minutes saved my daughter’s life.”

The experience left Michele eternally grateful and set her on a new path. She became a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) and a CPST instructor. Now she’s the one teaching parents and new technicians to properly install car seats.

“It can save a life! It's up to us as parents and caregivers to research, educate and protect our precious cargo in our motor vehicles,” shared Michelle.

Brooke, now 19 years old, is following in her Mom’s footsteps. She recently graduated from Fire Recruit School and is starting her career as a firefighter and EMT. Knowing what happened to her as an infant, she plans to become a CPST, just like her mom and the people who saved her life.

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, 73% of child safety seats are misused. It’s critical for families to take the time to read the manual for the car seat, as well as their vehicle owner’s manual. It’s equally important to have the right seat for the height and weight of the child, and to keep them rear-facing until at least age two.

It’s always a good idea to have a CPST check your installation as well. You can never be too safe when it comes to the well-being of your children. Check out The Ultimate Car Seat Guide and visit Safe Kids Worldwide to find a technician or car seat check event near you.

You might also like:

• Saving Leilani
• A Superhero Retires
• The Auto Safety Timeline

State Farm conducted an online survey of parents to gauge car seat safety behavior and knowledge. One of the more eye-opening findings, less than half of parents (44 percent) surveyed kept their child rear-facing until two years of age or longer.

“In a crash, rear-facing seats better support the head, neck and spine of infants than forward-facing seats,” shared Chris Mullen, Director of the Technology Research Division at State Farm. “Correctly secured in their car seats, children are much more likely to avoid serious injuries.”

Also troubling, less than a quarter of parents took advantage of a free resource provided by Safe Kids Worldwide certified community-based experts. Only 23 percent of parents had a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) check their car seat installation and usage.

Michele Ice, an Atlanta-area firefighter, attended a car seat check nearly 18 years ago with her ten-month old, Brooke. The car seat tech found several installation mistakes. Weeks later, mother and daughter were in a car crash. Brooke Ice was unscathed thanks to the proper car seat installation. Michele Ice was left in a coma. After months of rehabilitation, she eventually recovered.

“It was embarrassing to find out that I had it installed all wrong. But those 45 minutes of the car seat check saved my daughter’s life,” Michele Ice said.

Two-thirds of parents (68 percent) did not anchor the top tether of the forward-facing car seat to the back of the vehicle seat. More men (39 percent) did anchor than women (25 percent).

“Without the top tether, in the event of a crash, the seat could move forward several inches, putting the child at greater risk of serious injuries,” Mullen stated.

Michele Ice is now a CPST Instructor herself and often sees other parents making common mistakes; especially not using the top tether for forward-facing seats.

“It can save a life! It's up to us as parents and caregivers to research, educate and protect our precious cargo in our motor vehicles,” shared Michele Ice.

Additional stats from the survey (full report):

• Nearly a quarter of parents (23 percent) moved their child out of a booster seat because they felt the child was big enough.
  • Only one-third of parents checked safety websites (e.g. Safe Kids, State Farm) to be certain it was time to move their child out of a booster seat.
• Only 32 percent of parents removed bulky clothes like winter coats before buckling (24 percent men vs. 40 percent women).
  • Bulky clothing will not allow the parent to get the harness tight enough.
• Two out of three parents did not register their car seat with the manufacturer.
  • Without registration, they would not receive notifications of recalls.
• Less than half of parents knew car seats have expiration dates.
  • Car seats, like many products, degrade over time and will no longer protect the child as intended.
• Ten percent of parents bought or used a second-hand car seat. For parents under 35, the number was even higher. One in five younger parents used or bought a second-hand car seat.
  • With a second-hand seat, you may not know the seat’s history (whether it has been in a crash, has expired or was registered).

Car seat safety has come a long way but there’s room to improve

In 1997, the number one killer of children up to four years old was motor vehicle crashes. In 2017, that is no longer the case. Child occupant (ages zero to four) deaths have been reduced by 15 percent. Motor vehicle crashes are still a leading cause, but no longer the leading cause.

A major reason for the improvement? Twenty years ago, State Farm joined forces with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia® (CHOP) and the University of Pennsylvania to create Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS).

State Farm and CHOP identified more than 600,000 crashes involving 875,000 children under age 16. It was the largest source of data ever collected on children involved in motor vehicles crashes.

“The data supported legislative measures that has saved thousands of children’s lives and reduced the severity of injuries for tens of thousands of children,” shared Dennis Durbin, AVP and Chief Clinical Research Officer at CHOP who was Co-Principal Investigator of PCPS. “It was a remarkable win for public health.”

“As we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of Partners for Child Passenger Safety, it’s important to look at the accomplishments. At State Farm, we are immensely proud of PCPS and its results. Children have been saved,” shared Mullen. “But during Child Passenger Safety Week and every other day of the year, we cannot lose sight of the fact that we can still do more for our children. Studies have found car seat misuse at 72 percent. This survey reflects that data and drives home the point - we need more car seat safety education and awareness.”

About the survey:

In August 2017, State Farm Strategic Resources Department conducted an online survey of U.S. consumers ages 18 and over. Survey responses were received from 193 parents (93 men and 100 women) who reported that they “have children under the age of 13." The full report is available.