The Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s Highway Safety Office (MHSO) is joining safety advocates statewide this week to promote car seat awareness, as the state observes Child Passenger Safety Week from Sept. 20 through Sept. 26.
The national observance, backed locally by partners including the Maryland Department of Health’s Kids in Safety Seats program (MDKISS), the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems and Safe Kids, comes as motor vehicle crashes remain one of the leading causes of death for children in the United States. Crashes account for roughly one of every four unintentional injury deaths among children, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“Children are the most precious cargo we carry in our vehicles, and using a car seat is the first step in protecting them,” MVA Administrator Chrissy Nizer, who also serves as Gov. Wes Moore’s Highway Safety Representative, said in a statement. Nizer has previously emphasized similar road-safety priorities in her role overseeing the MHSO.
No Southern Maryland Events on the Schedule
Unlike the statewide highway safety grants that reached Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties earlier this month, this year’s free car seat check events are concentrated elsewhere in the state. Scheduled stops include Carroll County (Sept. 21 and Sept. 25), Baltimore County (Sept. 22), Caroline County (Sept. 23) and Frederick County (Sept. 24) — none of them in Southern Maryland.
Families in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties who want a car seat checked don’t have to wait for next year’s event schedule, however. MDKISS offers free in-person and virtual car seat checks year-round, and can be reached through ZeroDeathsMD.gov/carseat or the Maryland Department of Health’s KISS program.
What Maryland Law Requires
State law lays out several stages as children grow:
- Children must remain rear-facing until at least age 2, unless they reach the maximum height or weight allowed by their car seat’s manufacturer. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping children rear-facing as long as the seat allows, even beyond age 2.
- After outgrowing a rear-facing seat, children should move to a forward-facing seat with a harness, then a booster seat until the vehicle’s seat belt fits properly on its own.
- Children younger than 8 must ride in an appropriate child restraint unless they are 4 feet 9 inches or taller, per Maryland Transportation Article §22-412.2.
One point in the MVA’s release is worth clarifying for readers: the guidance that “all children younger than 13 should ride properly restrained in the back seat” is a safety recommendation from MVA and the American Academy of Pediatrics, not a separate legal mandate under Maryland’s child-restraint statute. The seating-position law that is enforceable applies to the age- and size-based restraint requirements above.
Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians can check installation and fit and answer questions one-on-one. Parents and caregivers are also encouraged to periodically check on their own that:
- The seat is appropriate for the child’s current age, height and weight.
- The seat does not move more than one inch side-to-side or front-to-back at the belt path.
- Harness straps are snug and correctly positioned, with the chest clip at armpit level.
- The child stays in each stage until reaching that seat’s height or weight limit.
Throughout the week, the MHSO plans to share five social media videos covering hot-car dangers, an overview of the child passenger safety law, front-seat-versus-back-seat guidance, proper installation and role-modeling safe habits for caregivers.
The observance supports the Maryland Department of Transportation’s broader Serious About Safety campaign, part of the state’s push toward reducing traffic deaths, which have trended downward statewide this year outside of motorcycle fatalities.
More information on choosing the right seat and finding a year-round inspection location is available at ZeroDeathsMD.gov/carseat.
