(Radio Iowa) – A new study finds many Iowa parents stop using child seats and booster seats as their children grow, despite those seats being an important safety measure — plus, it’s the law. In Iowa, kids between one and six years old must be secured in a child restraint system — a safety seat or booster seat, not a seat belt — or the driver faces fines. Brian Ortner, spokesman for Triple-A-Iowa, says the study is based on five years of government crash data and it reveals a concerning trend.

“Child seat and booster seat use declines after children turn three, and those are needed safety devices,” Ortner says. “In Iowa, 93% of parents and caregivers we found transition their children to an adult seat belt too soon, and 24% transition their kids to a booster seat too soon.” The study found 74-percent of car seats that were inspected were not being used correctly or were improperly installed. Ortner says some common mistakes when a child seat or booster seat is installed include being too loose.

Also: “Not using the tether when installing a forward-facing car seat with either the lower anchors or seatbelt on the back, or the harness is too loose when securing a child in the car seat,” Ortner says. “So those are things that can be easily fixed and when used correctly, car seats, booster seats and seat belts do protect young passengers.” Parents go to great lengths to protect their children, but even with the best intentions, Ortner says they may be endangering their children by putting them in the wrong type of seat or not securing them properly.

Between 2018 and 2022, the study found four-million children under age 12 nationwide were involved in car crashes, resulting in 547-thousand injuries and nearly three-thousand deaths.