If you ever thought that child safety seats were an unnecessary inconvenience, consider the following statistics that were published as part of the CDC and NHTSA's National Child Passenger Safety Week which just concluded on Friday, September 18:

• Last year, an average of four children under the age of 14 were killed in auto accidents per day;
• Studies have found that children's car seats reduce the risk of death in a car crash by over 50%, as compared to children who only used standard seat belts;
• In 2007, nearly 400 children's lives were saved by the use of child safety seats and devices.

Granted, as a father of 6 small children, I find these seats and devices terribly annoying. But these statistics simply cannot be ignored.