Even with the ready supply of cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does not want to discourage families with infants under the age of two from flying by requiring that everyone on a plane have his or her own dedicated seat.
The FAA is concerned that families that would fly if their young infants flew free as lap children will choose to instead drive when they want to travel. More children would then be at risk, according to the FAA, since statistically driving is more dangerous than flying.
The impediments to requiring all children being properly secured in their own seats in all U.S. commercial flights are cost, a lack of compatibility between some infant car and plane safety restraints, and the inconvenience of having parents take the time to secure their infants in restraints during the boarding process.
To date there is no reputable organization, be it government, industry or academia that claims that lap children fly as safe as or safer than infants secured in proper restraint systems. Further, there are no pending studies, accusations of suspect science, or warring camps over this issue.
The findings are clear that lap children are at greater risk of injury and death, not only during catastrophic events in the air but also at times during routine turbulence. Consider that often flight attendants are asked to secure all loose cabin items, from electronic devices to coffee pots due to anticipated turbulence. The irony is that they are asked to secure everything except for the smallest and most vulnerable passengers.
Regardless of a parents intent, the laws of physics are such that no parent can adequately protect an infant under tremendous g-forces. Under such circumstances lap children are clearly at risk.
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