According to a report published today by the Mapfre Foundation and Ford, traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for the under-14's, with 48% of deaths in this age group being attributed to this cause.

The report published today, to coincide with a campaign for the use of child restraints in cars, claims that 75% of deaths and 90% of injuries could be avoided if parents used properly-fitted carseats for their children.

25% of those interviewed for the report admit to not carrying the appropriate child seats in their cars and 11% of those who did carry them, admitted to using them incorrectly.

In the light of this last statistic, Miguel María Muñoz, president of the Mapfre Foundation's Institute of Road Safety, commented that 'this figure, at first sight so insignificant, is in fact hugely significant', because, as he explained, the correct use of appropriate child restraints is the only way of protecting children in the event of an accident.

Muñoz also pointed out that the risk of injuries was not limited to accidents alone, but that simply by braking sharply parents could harm their children if they were not correctly strapped in.

Manuel Luna, Ford's representative in the report, underlined one of the facts used in the campaign: that when a car brakes sharply at 50kmph, a child's mass increases to more than a tonne, making it 'impossible for a human arm to stop it from flying forward'.

In addition, the study revealed that the most common reason (in 38% of cases) parents gave for not using child restraints was that they were only going a short distance.  Muñoz pointed out that the majority of traffic accidents occurred during 'short' journeys.

Comparisons made with another study carried out four years ago shows that there has been an improvement in the percentage of parents using child restraints, but that there is still widespread ignorance with regard to the different types of restraint available, which in turn means that many parents are using child seats that are inappropriate for the age or size of their children.

According to the report, in 2008 two in every ten children travel with an inappropriate restraint, which, according to Luna, could do 'more harm than good' and he underlined the importance of consulting an expert when buying a child car seat.

On the basis of the report's findings, Mapfre and Ford have launched a campaign using the slogan 'Sit them Safely' that aims to encourage the correct use of child seats in cars, with information for parents about buying them at a reasonable price and public information programmes for both adults and children.