Oak Lawn Cops Step Up Patrols To Ensure Children Are Secured In Car Safety Seats

OAK LAWN, IL — Oak Lawn police will participate in the national Child Passenger Safety Week, Sept. 22 to Sept. 30, with stepped up enforcement of child passenger safety laws to help ensure the protection of young children traveling in our community.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is reminding parents and caregivers that child passengers are best protected in a crash when they are correctly buckled in the right seats for their ages and sizes. Car seats and booster seats have height and weight limits, and children should stay in each seat until they outgrow those limits. The safest place for all children under 13 is the back seat, as airbags in the front seat are designed for adult passengers.

“You don’t want to be overconfident when it comes to your child’s safety,” said Sgt. Nick Kumke, of the Oak Lawn Police Department. “Caregivers need to know for sure that their children are in the right seats and that those seats are installed correctly.”

Vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children, and the latest research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that 46 percent of car seats are misused. Common issues include children being in the wrong type of car seat for their age and size, and car seats being installed incorrectly — both of which leave children vulnerable to injury in a crash. In 2024, 32 children under 14 were killed in traffic crashes.

Keeping a child in the right seat for their age and size can make all the difference in a crash. Car seats have been shown to reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants under 1-year-old and by 54 percent for toddlers 1 to 4 years old in passenger cars.

Infants have the highest rate of car seat use among children who survived fatal crashes. In 2024, for children under 1-year-old, 95 percent of those infants were buckled. Once a child outgrows a rear-facing car seat, they are ready for a forward-facing car seat with a harness. Only after reaching the maximum height or weight limits of a forward-facing car seat — which takes longer than most parents think — a child should be buckled in a booster seat until large enough to fit in an adult seat belt correctly.

Booster seats are a critical step between harnessed car seats and adult seat belts. If the seat belt doesn’t fit a child correctly, it won’t offer them optimal protection in a crash. In 2024, the number of children killed in passenger vehicle crashes was highest for children ages 8 to 12. Once a child is ready to use a seat belt, parents should ensure that it fits correctly — that the seat belt lies across the upper thighs and is snug across the shoulder and chest, away from the face and neck.

The campaign is funded by federal traffic safety funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, administered through the Illinois Department of Transportation.
For more information on car seats, visit Buckle Up Illinois.