The Massachusetts Personal Injury Newsletter

The move from car seats to seat belts can be unsettling for parents who want to keep their children safe. Kids can move out of car seats when they are 4 feet 9 inches tall and between 8 and 12 years old, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They should always use a seat belt and sit in the rear seat for the best protection. When kids move out of a booster seat to use a seat belt exclusively, it's important to make sure they're using the belt correctly. The American Academy of Pediatrics provides guidelines for this: • A child should be tall enough to sit without slouching with his back against the vehicle seat. •The knees should be naturally bent over the car's seat with the feet hanging down or flat on the floor. • The seat belt's lap portion should sit snugly across the child's hips - not the belly. • The shoulder belt should lie across the child's chest and shoulder - not the neck or face. That's not all. Never allow a ...

The National Safety Council recently released the 2014 edition of Injury Facts®, which details safety statistics and trends across the U.S. and worldwide. Injury Facts has been the Council’s go-to resource for all safety statistics for more than 90 years. Among the more surprising statistics in the 2014 edition: 1. Poisonings, including those from unintentional opioid prescription painkiller overdoses, were the leading cause of death in 18 states and Washington, D.C. The increase in fatalities corresponds with the national increase in deaths from drug poisonings, including those involving prescription painkillers. 2. Cell phone use is now estimated to be involved in 26 percent of all motor vehicle crashes – up from the previous year. 3. An estimated 5 percent of cell phone-related crashes involve texting, while 21 percent involve drivers talking on handheld or hands-free cell phones. 4. In 2012, the number of teen motor vehicle occupant deaths decreased, but motor vehicle crashe...