E D I T O R I A L

The Issue: Car crashes are leading cause of death in children under 15.

Our Opinion: Parents, take steps to keep your children safe.

By now, we would expect all north central Ohio parents would have heard and responded to the message loud and clear: Nothing endangers the safety and well-being of your children more than leaving them unsecured in a car without a child restraint seat.

In recent years, there have been a number of programs aimed at increasing consumer awareness about the proper use of child restraint car seats and efforts have been made to provide free car seats to families in need.

This week is National Child Passenger Safety Week. Car crashes are the leading cause of death in children younger than age 15 across our nation.

Every year, according to the National Academies' Transportation Research Board, about 800 school-age children are killed in motor vehicle crashes during normal school travel hours -- weekday mornings and afternoons -- accounting for about 14 percent of the 5,600 child deaths that occur on the nation's roads.

Of these 800 deaths, only about 2 percent are school-bus related, while 74 percent occur in private passenger vehicles and 22 percent are the result of pedestrian or bicycle accidents. More than half of all deaths of children between age 5 to 18 occur during normal school travel hours when a teenager is driving.

Some parents look forward to their teen acting as chauffeur for younger brothers and sisters, but "we are concerned that teen drivers (will) not be ready for the job," said Gary Direnfeld, executive director of the "I Promise Program," a teen safe driving initiative.

Direnfeld conducted an e-mail survey of passenger safety experts asking their opinion on teens chauffeuring younger children. Their responses yielded this advice:

§ Don't do it. Do not rely on teen drivers to transport younger children. Young children often do not value the authority of a teen driver and may be more prone to acting up and distracting the driver.

§ If you must rely on a teen driver to transport younger children, have them learn how to install infant carriers, car and booster seats from a qualified child passenger safety technician. Contact your local police service or hospital to locate an expert in your area.

§ Have your infant carrier, car and booster seat inspected to assure it meets all safety standards.

§ Parents, teen drivers and all other passengers must wear their own seat belt at all times, allowing only as many passengers as functional seat belts.

Parents, safe driving starts with you.

Kids learn to drive long before they get behind the wheel of a car themselves by watching their parents.

Parents of teen drivers should enter into a mutual safe driving pact, suggesting programs like the "I Promise Program," to help them do so. Parents interested in reading the child passenger report can view it on the Web site; www.ipromiseprogram.com.