Law enforcement reinforces seat belt safety after Highway 40 crash
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A car wreck on Highway 40 at Rollingwood Blvd left four people injured just before 11:30 a.m on Wednesday.
Sonnikqua McKamey, 29, and Brandon Lewis, 37, were with a one-year-old child in a 2009 Buick Lucerne when troopers say McKamey didn't stop at the intersection causing Lonnie Duncan, 56, in a 2013 Ford F150 to t-bone the Lucerne.
According to the crash report, Duncan was wearing a seat belt and the other three weren't. Missouri Highway Patrol said the child was ejected from the passenger car possibly out the back window because the child was not restrained.
The child was airlifted to St.Louis Children's hospital, McKamey and Lewis are at University Hospital in fair condition and Duncan was treated and released from University Hospital Wednesday night according to Eric Maze, spokesman with University Hospital.
Sgt. Shawn Brazas with the Missouri Highway Patrol says if the child had been restrained, the injuries would have been less severe. According to the Insurance Information Institute, among passenger vehicle occupants age five and older, seatbelts saved an estimated 14,955 lives in 2017.
Darla Atkins is the Child Passenger Safety Technician and instructor at Columbia fire department. She's been teaching people how to install car seats properly for around 20 years.
She says parents should use a criteria when choosing a car seat for their child. "They should always make sure that it fits the child. Making sure it fits their height and weight and developmental part of it and also that it fits their vehicle so that it can fit in the vehicle properly and that their gonna be able to use it every time the correct way," said Atkins.
NHTSA said that in 2017 the lives of an estimated 325 children under the age of five were saved by restraints.
According to Safekids.org, a child should be at least be four foot nine to ride in a vehicle using a seat belt without a booster seat. Atkins said there are about 12 to 15 different child seat manufacturers with many safety features.
The most versatile child seat is a convertible seat. That's a child seat that faces the back of the seat but also can be turned forward once that child is old enough for the change.
Vehicles also come safety features that accommodate car seats. According to Columbia Fire Department, all cars made from September 2002 were made with lower anchor systems.
A lower anchor system are the hooks in between the seats that snaps into the child seat if it has that safety feature.
"I always refer picking a car seat like you are picking a vehicle. It just depends on how much stuff you want on it and what kind of safety features you want on it," said Atkins.
Those interested in becoming a certified in child passenger safety, go to safekids.org. Those who can not afford to buy a car seat can visit the Voluntary Action Center to get a voucher for a free carseat.
