Maryville, TN : Boy killed in crash not wearing seat belt on Wednesday, 24th August, 2016

The 8-year-old Maryville boy killed in a single-vehicle crash Wednesday was not wearing a seat belt when he was ejected from an SUV, police said.
Eli Hatcher, Bluebird Lane, was sitting in a booster seat in the back passenger seat of a 2001 Mazda Tribute at the time of the crash, police said, but a seat belt was not fastened across him and the seat.
The vehicle was driven by Hatcher’s mother, Robin D. Hatcher, 44, Bluebird Lane. She was driving on Mint Road Wednesday shortly before 4 p.m. when she ran off the right side of the road while negotiating a left curve near Walker School Road, according to a Blount County Sheriff’s Office report.
The vehicle traveled into a ditch before the front right side of the SUV hit a tree. The vehicle then rolled over once and came to rest on its wheels off Mint Road just north of Walker School Road.
Eli Hatcher was ejected through the side window, according to the report. Police said he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Robin Hatcher and an 8-year-old boy who was in the back left seat, identified as Cole Garrett, Neighbors Way, Maryville, were taken by Rural/Metro Ambulance Service to University of Tennessee Medical Center. Robin Hatcher, who was wearing a seat belt, was listed in stable condition Wednesday night. Hospital staff could not be reached Friday for an update on her condition.
Hospital staff were also unable to provide any patient information on Garrett, who was also wearing a seat belt when the crash occurred. He was not in a booster seat.
No charges have been filed in the crash and police do not believe drugs or alcohol were involved, the report said.
Car Seat Safety
Vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death for children ages 2 to 14, said Susan Cook, injury prevention coordinator for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Cook is coordinator for Safe Kids of Greater Knox Area, a coalition of the Safe Kids Worldwide organization which operates out of Children’s Hospital.
Safe Kids of Greater Knox Area collaborates with area law enforcement in 18 East Tennessee counties to hold regular child safety seat clinics, like the one held last Friday outside the Blount County Justice Center.
Tennessee law requires children between the ages of 4 and 8 who are less than 4 feet 9 inches tall to ride in best-positioning booster seat systems. Children older than 8 who are still less than 4 feet 9 inches tall are still required to be in a booster seat.
“We’re really looking for 4 foot 9 because that’s when that adult seat belt will really start to fit,” Cook said.
A common mistake is for parents to move a child out of a booster seat too early, Cook said. The organization stresses proper seat belt usage as well.
“We always talk to parents about the importance of having that seat belt on appropriately,” Cook said. “(It) needs to be low on their hips, off the abdomen and coming across their collar bone ... that way if they’re in a crash, the pressure is applied to bone and not soft tissue.”

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Boy killed in crash not wearing seat belt