DPS: Minn. parents need to do more to buckle kids

Parents still are not buckling children into seatbelts properly, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Fifty-three percent of the more than 4,000 children killed or injured in car accidents over the last five years were wearing the correct seat belts.

According to a 2009 Minnesota law, kids younger than 8 or smaller than 4 feet 9 inches tall must use booster seats.

Heather Darby, child passenger safety coordinator at the DPS Office of Traffic Safety, said parents can take a cue from their kids, who tend to move the shoulder belt behind them if it doesn't fit right.

"They're doing that because it's uncomfortable, it's rubbing up at their neck or up at they're face. So we want to make sure that the shoulder belt is right across their shoulder and not up at their face," she said.

Darby said by law, children younger than age 1 and weighing less than 20 pounds need to be in rear-facing car seats.

"Best safety practice is to keep them rear facing as long as you can," Darby said.