Norway: Where (Almost) No Children Die in Car Crashes

December 21, 2015 Mike

With all the time I spend talking about car safety, car seats, and children’s welfare on this blog, it’s heartening to read a bit of good news now and then around the Internet. In the US, we’re still fighting to make extended-rear facing a thing, and not just an odd thing overprotective parents do.

We’re up to 3 states that require it until age 2, but it’s still only required until 1 in the remaining 47. Meanwhile, the Swedes have known for years that all children should remain rear-facing at least until the age of 4, which is why I sound like a broken record recommending the Fllo, the Foonf, the Rainier, and the Pacifica, since these are the best seats for keeping children rear-facing until 4 or more currently available in the United States.

It’s a lot of work trying to spread best practices, especially since most parents are still forward-facing somewhere between 1 and 2.

Norway - The Car Crash Detective — It’s where Elsa would go. It’s also a safer place for children in cars than the United States.

However, in Norway, things are different. They’ve got their issues (racism, xenophobia, and a lot of cold weather), but they’ve listened to Sweden, and the nation that served as the outdoor and thematic inspiration for Frozen (yes, really) is on the verge of going an entire year without losing a single child under 10 to a car crash.

That’s right. Not a single child fatality (under 10) has been recorded so far this year in Norway.

What would that look like in the US?

Norway child traffic deaths much better than US car crash fatalities

Well, let’s look at the most recent year for which complete data is available: 2013. In 2013, per the IIHS, 939 children under 13 died in motor vehicle crashes, which included passenger vehicle occupants, pedestrians, bicyclists, and ATV riders. Of those 939 children, 60 were under 1, 245 were 1-3, 368 were 4-8, and 266 were between 9 and 12. For a fairer comparison, let’s just look at the children who passed away between 0 and 8. That adds up to 673 children.

We can’t really compare that to Norway since they haven’t lost any children. However, we *can* compare the proportions. There were 316.5 million people in the US in 2013, vs 5.166 million in Norway today. To put it another way, there are 61.3 Americans for every Norwegian. Dividing 673, by 61.3, then, would give us the number of children under 9 we’d expect to die annually in car crashes in Norway: 11.

Instead, zero have died.

That’s pretty impressive. Scratch that. That’s wonderful! Let’s read about the details from The Local, a Norwegian English-language paper, and get some historical context:

“In 1970, nearly 100 hundred children died on Norwegian roadways, and many were seriously injured.

Okay, so Norway went from just about 100 child deaths in 1970 to zero in 2015. In 1970, there were 3.876 million Norwegians. In the US, it’s hard to find 1970 child traffic death data, but in 1975, 1036 children under 9 died in traffic deaths in the US, and our population then was 205.1 million. To put it another way, back then, there were 52.9 Americans for every Norwegian, which means we’d expect 53x as many US child deaths as Norwegian deaths. However, dividing 1036 by 100 shows only 10x as many child deaths.

To put it simply, it was actually 5 times *safer* to be a child, traffic wise, in the US in 1975, than it was in Norway in 1970. What in the world could have changed so much to make it much safer to be a child in Norway today than a child in the US in the last 30-35 years? Let’s turn to the director of the Norwegian Council for Road Safety (Trygg Trafikk, or TT), for a response:

Extended rear-facing in Norway credited with zero kids dying in car crashes

We can see that seatbelts, car seats, lower speeds, safer cars, better roads and more knowledge saves lives,” TT director Jan Johansen said in a press release. The council said that Norwegian parents have gotten much better at ensuring that their kids are buckled up in the back seat and in keeping children in rear-facing car seats until the age of four.

There you have it: per the director, Norwegian parents have caught on to the need to keep children restrained in the back seat–but not just restrained; restrained in rear-facing seats, and until the age of 4. It’s what the Swedes do, and it’s why they have the lowest rates of child car deaths in the world. And it looks like Norway’s getting the same results by following best practices.

Norway’s introduction of mandatory child vehicle restraint systems received much of the credit for the drastic cut in child deaths, and TT said that more pedestrian and cycle paths, plus the increased use of bike helmets, have also contributed to better traffic mortality figures.

For sure, other factors come into play, including the addition of segregated (dedicated) paths for pedestrians and cyclists, who inherently suffer when we prioritize auto transportation over human transportation. They also credit bike helmets, which makes complete sense when you consider how many cycle deaths occur due to head trauma. But the lion’s share of the credit goes to the use of child vehicle restraint systems that are becoming ubiquitous in Norway.

If they can get their child deaths down to zero after once having a rate 5 times as high as that in the United States, there’s no reason why we can’t. But it starts with rear-facing, and we need to keep rear-facing our kids as long as we can. It makes more of a difference than the kind of car you drive, even though safer cars assuredly help.

But what about when it comes to adults? Has the dramatic increase in child safety been an isolated phenomenon, or could it be reflective of greater trends in Norway, and a more encompassing view of community needs to create safe roadways for everyone?

I’m dying to find out, and I think I have the answer.

We’ll take a look at how much safer it is to be a Norwegian driver than an American one very soon. In the mean time, drive safely and remember to safely restrain your children for as long as possible: rear-facing at least until 4 if you can, forward-facing until 8 if possible, and boostering until 10 to 12, depending on how long it takes them to pass the 5-step test.

It takes a bit more time to do these things than to just pop your kids into a seat belt, but the difference can be between around 700 deaths a year, as in the US, or close to zero, as in Norway. I know which camp I’d rather have my kids fall in.

If you want the seats that will help you rear-face the longest, go with the Fllo, the Foonf, the Rainier, and the Pacifica. They’ll let you RF to 50 pounds, which will get most kids to 5 or beyond.

If you want ERF for under $200, the Size4Me, Fit4Me, Head Wise, and Contender will get you to 40 pounds, which will get most kids to 4.

—

If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

2015 Car Seat Gift Guide: Best Seats for Safe Christmas Gifts

December 14, 2015 Mike

‘The holidays are among my favorite times of year. Family close at hand, good food, snow tires, and…car seats?

Yup. If you’re wondering what to do for your loved ones as we approach the holidays and Christmas gift-giving, my top recommendation would be a good car seat. I know, it sounds strange in a world full of tablets and big screen TVs. However, even though you might not think of car safety as the holidays approach, the truth is that car accidents are the number one killers of children between 1 and 13, and if there’s anything we can do to keep our children safe, as well as the children of our dear friends and extended family members safe, it’s worth doing. To me, that means being open to new car seats when necessary, and it means being aware of the mistakes we make too often with our car seat installations, especially with the miles so many families will put on their vehicles in the next few weeks.

The holidays are a time when we should be joyful and celebrating time with our loved ones. However, there are many families around the country who will sadly lose loved ones, including children, to preventable car accidents. Each year there are more stories, but the one that comes to mind was one from some years ago that took the life of an infant while her family drove home from a Christmas party on Christmas day. Her father reportedly fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the center line. However, every occupant in both vehicles survived, except for the 13-month old baby.

If there’s anything we can do to reduce the likelihood of our children being injured or worse this Christmas, we should do it, and do it gladly.

These are my favorite car seats currently on the market. I chose them based on how well they fit a range of children, how easy they are to safely and correctly install, and most importantly, how long they allow children to rear-face. Each of these seats will make a great holiday gift that will give the gift of safety whenever children are in cars for the next several years. In order to learn why these kinds of seats are important, be sure to read my guides to extended rear-facing, extended harnessing, and boostering.

Looking for more car seat reviews, recommendations, and tips on best practices? You can read all of my reviews of recommended car seats here. Friends in Canada, your recommended list is here.

The Four Best Convertible Car Seats in 2016 for Rear-Facing (Convertibles that Rear-Face to 50 pounds)

The Clek Fllo – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Diono Rainier – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Clek Foonf – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Diono Pacifica – Review Here, Buy Here.

When it comes to car seat safety, the science is clear: the safest position for all children is rear-facing. This goes for adults too, but until we have autonomous cars, rear-facing adult seats aren’t likely to occur. But we know that for children, the longer we can keep them rear-facing, the safer they are when traveling in cars, trucks, SUVs, and minivans, and the less likely they are to suffer serious or fatal injuries should crashes occur.

Unfortunately, many parents forward-face at 1 because that’s when the law allows us to turn our children around in most states (except for California, New Jersey, and Oklahoma), and most parents are forward-facing by 2 in the remaining states. However, rear-facing longer keeps children safer longer, and the aforementioned seats that allow children to remain rear-facing until they weigh 50 pounds are the best on the market.

The Dionos are the best value for the money if you’re looking to maximize the time you spend between buying car seats, as both offer longer forward-facing usable times than the Clek seats, and also include booster modes, even though those modes aren’t going to be useful for some kids. The advantage of the Clek seats is that they’re as narrow as convertible car seats get, which means it’s possible to fit them 3 across in just about any vehicle.

My favorite seat of the four is the Fllo, followed by the Rainier, but you can’t go wrong with any of them. No seats on the market will allow you to rear-face longer than these 4, and since rear-facing is the safest position we can place our children in whenever traveling with them in a vehicle, this is where you want to be if you can afford it in terms of child safety.

Each of these seats will allow you to rear-face the average child through the preschool years and likely into kindergarten, or age 5. They can then be turned forward-facing and used for varying amounts of time in that orientation; you’ll get much more time with the Dionos than with the Cleks, if you’re interested in getting a longer overall seat lifespan per child.

Remember to pick up the infant insert as well if you’re buying one of the Cleks and want to use them from the day you leave the hospital, otherwise you’ll need to wait until your child has head control and can sit up independently. Similarly, if you’re buying one of the Dionos, make sure to pick up an angle adjuster so you’ll have a reasonable amount of room when driving or sitting as a passenger in the front row of your vehicle.

The Four Best Convertible Car Seats on a Smaller Budget ( under $200) in 2016

The Graco Head Wise 65 – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Graco Size4Me 65 – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Graco Contender – Review Here , Buy Here .
The Graco Fit4Me 65 – Review Here, Buy Here.

While there are lots of parents who aren’t aware of the benefits of rear-facing, there are also parents who are, but who simply don’t have the budgets necessary to purchase the high-end rear-facing seats above like the Cleks and Dionos. For these parents, I always recommend the Graco clones, which includes seats like the Head Wise 65, the Size4Me 65, the Contender, and the Fit4Me 65.

These are my favorite convertibles on the market under the $200 price point, and as I wrote in an earlier post, I have had three of these seats installed in family vehicles for a while (the Head Wise, Size4Me, and Contender), and recently ordered and reviewed the fourth (see here). All four seats are quite similar to each other, with a few slight differences.

For example, I find the Head Wise 65 to be the most comfortable of the four seats due to the additional padding it provides; it also has more side impact protection as a result. The Size4Me features a removable head support padding, while that in the Head Wise is fixed. The Contender takes up more room when you use it to rear-face, as I found out in my ultimate rear-facing convertible car seat comparison. The Fit4Me is most like the Head Wise in that it includes a ball lever on the side to indicate the recline angle. All of the seats are great, but if I had to choose an order or preference, it would be the Head Wise, Fit4Me, Size4Me, and then the Contender. You can’t go wrong with any of them, however.

Concluding thoughts on the holidays – and more traditional gift ideas

This year, loving parents throughout the country will undoubtedly bring lots of flashy gadgets and whiz-bang devices to children all over the United States, including electronic doo-dads like the Kindle Paperwhite or a 6″ Fire HD, card games like Exploding Kittens, or books like Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids (a great book for elementary-aged kids) or First 100 Words (an excellent book for toddlers).

Are these great gift ideas? Oh yeah! However, none of these gifts will do more for your kids’ development than a car seat that keeps them safe enough to have the rest of these experiences. This holiday season, make a long-lasting investment in your children and the children of your friends and extended family. A good car seat can make all the difference in the world.

Have fun shopping and remember to rear-face until 4 if possible, forward-face until 8 if possible, and booster until your child passes the 5 step test.

—

3 Across Installations: Which Car Seats Fit in a Dodge Caliber?

December 13, 2015 Mike

The Dodge Caliber was a sportily-styled compact crossover wagon sold by Dodge from model years 2007 to 2012. It came after the Neon and was replaced by the Dodge Dart in 2013. It shared a platform with the Mitsubishi Outlander, Jeep Compass, and Jeep Patriot. Unlike the Dart or the crossover SUVs I just mentioned, the Caliber never really took off in the US, but many parents continue to email me asking which car seats will fit 3 across in a Dodge Caliber, and I figured it was high time I put together a 3 across guide to help all of the parents who haven’t emailed me yet.

The Dodge Caliber still makes a decent family vehicle; it wasn’t very roomy inside, but it could seat 5 and it was more capable than a compact sedan due to the hatchback.

Before looking at which car seats did and didn’t fit in the Caliber in 3 across setups, it’s worth reviewing a bit of car safety, in terms of which kinds of seats to use and when.

My first recommendation for all parents is to start their kids out rear-facing (it’s also the law), and to keep rear-facing long after the law requires them to. Specifically, I suggest keeping children in rear-facing infant or convertible seats as long as possible (ideally until 4!), then keeping them harnessed in forward-facing seats for several years more (ideally until 8!), and then only switching them out of booster seats when they pass the 5 step test (which typically happens between 10 and 12). The goal is to keep kids in the safest kinds of seats for as long as possible to increase their odds of surviving serious car crashes.

With that all in mind, I got to work with my seats to create what I believe to be the most detailed 3 across guide for the Dodge Caliber on the Internet, covering every model year of the crossover / wagon ever made. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time, although I’ll prioritize vehicles currently manufactured over ones.

You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are taken by yours truly or are courtesy of Wikipedia.

2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Dodge Caliber

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30, Diono Radian / RXT, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Tips and Tricks:

The Dodge Caliber was a small car at just under 174 inches long and just under 69 inches wide. In fact, it’s one of the narrowest vehicles I’ve ever had the displeasure of fitting car seats into. Many folks think you can’t do 3 across in it, but you defnitely can; you need the right seats, though, and you absolutely need to use your seat belts instead of the LATCH system, which will work nicely for 2 seats but not at all when trying for 3. Remember that seat belts are as safe as LATCH, and in some cases, safer, depending on the weight limits of your car seats.

Given the length of the Caliber, if you’re concerned about making things work in terms of front-to-back space, you’ll also want to check out my front-to-back comparison chart for rear-facing convertibles.

—

3 Across Installations: Which Car Seats Fit in a Saturn Outlook?

December 11, 2015 Mike

The Saturn Outlook is one of the GM Lambda SUVs, which includes its badge quadruplets the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia. Unlike the aforementioned full-size SUVs / crossovers, the Outlook is no longer manufactured in the US since GM phased out the Saturn brand. However, many parents continue to email me asking which car seats will fit 3 across in a Saturn Outlook, and I figured it was high time I put together a 3 across guide to help all of the parents who haven’t emailed me yet.

The Outlook is still a great safe used family vehicle, with good frontal crash scores, ESC, and side airbags in all three rows. However, if you’re reading this, you probably want to know how the answer to this question: how does the Outlook do when it comes to providing room for 3 car seats of varying sizes across the 2nd and 3rd rows? That’s what I set to find out. The short version is that you can basically expect any car seats that fit in the other versions of this SUV to fit in this SUV.

Before looking at which car seats did and didn’t fit in the Outlooks in 3 across setups, it’s worth reviewing a bit of car safety, in terms of which kinds of seats to use and when.

Car seat safety starts with rear-facing. It’s the safest position we know of, and the longer our kids rear-face, the safer they’ll be, regardless of what kind of vehicle they travel in. I recommend keeping children in rear-facing infant or convertible seats as long as possible (ideally until 4!), then keeping them harnessed in forward-facing seats for several years more (ideally until 8!), and then only switching them out of booster seats when they pass the 5 step test (which typically happens between 10 and 12). The goal is to keep kids in the safest kinds of seats for as long as possible to increase their odds of surviving serious car crashes.

With that all in mind, I got to work with my seats to create what I believe to be the most detailed 3 across guide for the Saturn Outlook on the Internet, covering every model year of the crossover / SUV ever made. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time, although I’ll prioritize vehicles currently manufactured over ones.

2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Saturn Outlook

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).

Graco Head Wise 65 (x3).

Graco Fit4Me 65 (x3).

Graco Contender (x3).

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30, Diono Radian / RXT, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Tips and Tricks:

The Saturn Outlook was just under 201 inches long and just over 78 inches wide, making it a great choice for 3 across in both the 2nd and the 3rd row if you bought the 8-seater. If you bought the 7-seater, you’ll have to make 3 across work only in the 3rd row. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to add an extra seat if you don’t have the bench option. The 3rd row isn’t the widest, but it’s definitely wide enough as long as you’re willing to use your seat belts instead of LATCH for the installation. Remember that seat belts are as safe as LATCH, and in some cases, safer, depending on the weight limits of your car seats.

Given the length of the Outlook, I wouldn’t expect you to have much trouble with fitting most seats in rear-facing configurations in terms of front-to-back space, but if you’re concerned about making things work, you can also check out my front-to-back comparison chart for rear-facing convertibles.

—

3 Across Installations: Car Seats in a Ford Taurus X / Freestyle

December 10, 2015 Mike

The Ford Freestyle and its badge twin, the Taurus X, are no longer manufactured in the US, having been replaced by the Ford Flex. However, many parents continue to email me asking which car seats will fit 3 across in a 7-seater Taurus X or Freestyle, and I figured it was high time I put together a 3 across guide to help all of the parents who haven’t emailed me yet. If you came here looking for the Taurus sedan 3 across guide, that’s here.

The Freestyle / Taurus X is still a great safe used family vehicle (although there’s still fervent debate over whether it was actually a station wagon, SUV, or crossover), with good frontal crash scores and side airbags in the later Freestyle years and all Taurus X years, as well as ESC in all Taurus X years. However, if you’re reading this, you probably want to know how the answer to this question: how does the Freestyle / Taurus X do when it comes to providing room for 3 car seats of varying sizes across the 3rd row in the 7-seat versions? That’s what I set to find out.

Before looking at which car seats did and didn’t fit in the Freestyle / Taurus X in 3 across setups, it’s worth reviewing a bit of car safety, in terms of which kinds of seats to use and when.

With that all in mind, I got to work with my seats to create what I believe to be the most detailed 3 across guide for the Ford Freestyle / Taurus X on the Internet, covering every model year of the wagon / crossover / SUV ever made. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time, although I’ll prioritize vehicles currently manufactured over ones.

2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Ford Freestyle / Taurus X

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).

Graco Head Wise 65 (x3).

Graco Fit4Me 65 (x3).

Graco Contender (x3).

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30, Diono Radian / RXT, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Tips and Tricks:

The Ford Freestyle / Taurus X was 200 inches long and 75 inches wide, making it a good choice for 3 across in the 3rd row if you were lucky enough to buy the 7-seater. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to add an extra seat if you don’t have the bench option. The 3rd row isn’t the widest, but it’s definitely wide enough as long as you’re willing to use your seat belts instead of LATCH for the installation. Remember that seat belts are as safe as LATCH, and in some cases, safer, depending on the weight limits of your car seats.

Given the length of the Freestyle / Taurus X, I wouldn’t expect you to have much trouble with fitting most seats in rear-facing configurations in terms of front-to-back space, but if you’re concerned about making things work, you can also check out my front-to-back comparison chart for rear-facing convertibles.

—

35,000 Americans will die this year on the road. You don't have to be one of them. A car seat and car safety blog to promote best practices for families.