Many children have figured out how to unfasten their seatbelts by the age of three, when they are still too young to understand the importance of safety, reports a new study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting last weekend.
Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine surveyed almost 400 parents and found that more than half had seen their child unfasten a seatbelt. Of these children, 75 percent were under the age of three, and some were as young as 12 months.
Almost half – 43 percent – of the reported incidents involved the children unfastening the seatbelt while the car was in motion, putting them at a significantly increased risk for serious injuries.
"We found that young children might acquire the motor skills to unbuckle from restraints before developing the cognitive ability to understand the necessity of automotive restraint," explained Dr. Lilia Reyes, one of the study authors.
The authors say that further study is needed to determine the safest and most effective design for car seat restraints.