Kai@Chicago

看到這則新聞，很是震驚! 想說一定要跟媽媽們分享一下。

美國這裡規定是小朋友坐汽車一定要用安全座椅。但偶爾圖方便，短程的距離，還是免不了會順便搭朋友車或是搭計程車。每次遇上這種情形，我總是覺得要把小虎緊緊抱住，讓他坐在後座我的大腿上，然後用同一條安全帶把我倆一塊綁住。我以為這樣是沒有兒童汽車安全座椅時，最保險最安全的方式。沒想到，原來大錯特錯! ( 請看下面這則新聞。總之翻譯後，簡言之，就是絕對不要把你孩子放在你大腿上，然後用同一安全帶綁在一起!!!  因為當車禍發生時，(在30mph 非常低速的衝撞下) 你的身體重量會變成30倍!!! 也就是如果妳體重五十公斤，在時速30馬力的衝擊下，妳的重量會變成一千五百公斤!  如果有小朋友夾在妳身體與安全帶之間，試想一下，小寶寶如何能承受1,500公斤的撞擊??? )

請看這則新聞: http://www.thecarseatlady.com/taxis/using_taxis_5.html

Traveling Without a Car Seat

What if you don't have a car seat with you? Can't you just buckle up your child in a safety belt or hold the child on your lap?

The primary job of a safety belt is to keep you from being ejected from the vehicle. The younger and smaller the child, the less effective the safety belt will be in both preventing injury and ejection from the vehicle, because the safety belt was designed for a 50th percentile adult male. A child under 1 year old and less than 20 pounds will likely receive no benefit if placed in a safety belt due to her small body size, large head, and inability to sit unsupported. A child of this age and size must always ride in an age/weight appropriate rear-facing car seat.

So too, a child over 1 and 20 pounds should also always ride in an age/weight appropriate car seat. We realize that many NYC toddlers ride in taxis without a car seat, often held on the lap of an adult,  so we feel it is important to note that holding a child is the worst option of all.   No one is strong enough to hold onto a child in the instant of a crash---where the child becomes much heavier than normal.  In this situation a child will fly forward either into the divider screen or out the windshield.  Therefore, should a toddler ever be in a vehicle without a car seat, he may receive some benefit from wearing a safety belt due to his larger body size and ability to sit unsupported.

If you must place your toddler in a seat belt, place him in a shoulder-and-lap belt (not just a lap belt – unless the shoulder belt is resting across the child's face). Pull the safety belt so it's very snug and so the lap portion of the belt is resting very low and very snug on the tops of the child's thighs. Never let the child place the shoulder belt behind her back or under her arm, since this increases the chance of serious head, abdominal, and spinal cord injuries.

Should I buckle up both myself and my child in the same seat belt, where my child sits on my lap and I buckle both of us in?

No!  Never use one seat belt for two people – i.e. don’t let your child sit on your lap and put the seat belt over both of you. Rule of thumb: One person, one seat belt.

Why? In a crash, everything will weigh its weight multiplied by the speed of a crash – if you are 100 pounds and are in a 30mph crash, you will weigh approximately 3000 pounds. If there's something between your body and the seat belt (like a child sitting on your lap), your body will crush the child.

簡言之，就是絕對不要把你孩子放在你大腿上，然後用同一安全帶綁在一起!!!  因為當車禍發生時，(在30mph 非常低速的衝撞下) 你的身體重量會變成30倍!!! 也就是如果妳體重五十公斤，在時速30馬力的衝擊下，妳的重量會變成一千五百公斤!  如果有小朋友夾在妳身體與安全帶之間，試想一下，小寶寶如何能承受1,500公斤的撞擊???

另外一個重點就是，If you must place your toddler in a seat belt, place him in a shoulder-and-lap belt (not just a lap belt – unless the shoulder belt is resting across the child's face). Pull the safety belt so it's very snug and so the lap portion of the belt is resting very low and very snug on the tops of the child's thighs. Never let the child place the shoulder belt behind her back or under her arm, since this increases the chance of serious head, abdominal, and spinal cord injuries. (因為連安全帶綁法我也做錯，所以自己很是驚訝! 特別列出來提醒大家~)

如果妳一定得用這種沒有安全座椅，需繫安全帶的下下之策，請注意安全帶綁法! 要用那種有斜跨肩膀以及腰部的那種，跨肩膀的那段，"不可以放在兒童身後，或是繞過他的腋下!" 因為這種綁法會增加腦部、腹部以及脊椎的傷害程度！

沒想到，過去兩年來我都做錯了! 現在還捏一把冷汗!

還有就是汽車後座中間的座位，如果其安全帶是那種有＂肩膀加上腰部＂的，則選＂中間座位＂是最安全的位置。但若中間位置（有些車款）的安全帶只有綁腰而沒有綁肩膀，則請勿把孩童放置在這個位置～

While the center of the back seat is statistically the safest place in the vehicle (because you can never take a direct impact there), it might not always be the best place to ride, depending on which type of seat belt it has. If the center has only a lap belt (no shoulder belt), it would not be the safest place for an adult or a child using a booster seat. These people are better served with a shoulder-and-lap belt that can offer upper body restraint not found in a lap-only belt.

A child in a rear or forward-facing car seat can ride very safely with a lap-only belt because they have the car seat's harness to offer upper body restraint.

Now that the newer taxis have shoulder-and-lap belts in all 3 rear seating positions, where someone sits is no longer much of an issue.

還有就是可否用嬰兒揹巾或肩帶？（infant carrier是這樣翻譯嗎？）　答案是：絕對不可以！

Will a BabyBjorn or other soft infant carrier protect a child in a taxi?

Simply put, NO!

We Car Seat Ladies are big proponents of baby-wearing.  Not only is it comfortable for the baby, it's also convenient for mom or dad--especially in the city where you may be in and out of small stores or taking the subway or bus. 

Unfortunately it is NOT safe to use a soft baby carrier in a taxi. While your friend might use it for her baby and your pediatrician or baby care instructor might even have said it's OK, the Baby Bjorn--or any other type of soft infant carrier – Ergo, Snugli, slings, wraps, etc--will not protect a baby in a crash. 

Similar Studies
Researchers Kathleen Weber and John Melvin of the Highway Safety Research Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School tested this same scenario using a 30 mph, front, dynamic crash test of the type required by the current U.S. federal safety standard for child car seats.  Unfortunately we have no video of this crash test.  In the test, an adult wore the baby in a soft, cloth front carrier like the Baby Bjorn and used a lap/shoulder belt. The researchers found that this infant was at a very high risk. The tested carrier shredded completely, ejecting the infant dummy into the dashboard. If the carrier had not shredded, they found that the infant would likely still not have survived. As the adult's head traveled forward in the whiplash motion, the adult's chin would have slammed down into the infant's head right where the soft spot is.　

在汽車安全測試的實驗下發現，如果用這種嬰兒肩帶或是揹巾乘坐汽車，當車禍發生時，揹巾會完全撕裂，並且讓嬰兒呈噴射狀方式往前方的擋風玻璃拋甩出去。而如果你使用的揹巾夠強壯，沒有撕裂，嬰兒存活率也不大。因為大人的頭會以飛快的速度向前傾，下巴部位通常會剛好撞擊到嬰兒頭部上方尚未併合的頭蓋骨空隙處(soft spot)

If you find yourself in a taxi with just your infant and a Baby Bjorn (hopefully you never will), there is NO way to protect your baby! However, you can still protect yourself by wearing your seatbelt. Putting the seatbelt over you and the baby will only make matters worse. It will not help the baby and will endanger you in the process