Press release of the day, apropos of the fact that we were just trying to figure out when Josie who thinks she is SO FREAKING MATURE can ride in the front seat (answer: quick googling does not tell me the law, but the interwebs say that because kids in the front seat are 40% more likely to be injured in a crash, “the safest place for children under 12 is the back seat,” but I digress): A lot of us are car seat morons. 

Buttloads of us are using the wrong sized car seats. Which is irksome, because the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children 1 through 12 years old. Based on 2010 NHTSA crash data, an average of two kid passengers under 12 were killed and 325 injured each day. This fatality rate could be reduced by half if the correct child safety seats were always used.

To educate parents and caregivers about NHTSA’s car seat recommendations for kids from birth through age 12, today NHTSA is launching a web site where you can find out if your kids are in the right car seat. The site also features how-to videos, recall notifications, and NHTSA’s car seat ease-of-use ratings. There you go.