HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
A child and a woman driving the car were taken to Huntsville Hospital after a wreck on Memorial Parkway.
The red mini-van flipped near Costco on the southbound access road. Witnesses told police that the woman driving the van was speeding when a car pulled out of Starbucks in front of her.
The driver of the van overcorrected and the cars side-swiped each other which caused the red van to flip over.
The 3-year-old boy was thrown from the vehicle through an open window. The woman driving did not have the boy restrained in a car seat.
Alabama state law requires kids age five and under to be in a child restraint seat. Children are required to use a rear-facing safety seat until they're at least one year of age or weigh 20 pounds.
They're required to use a forward-facing safety seat until they're at least 5-years-old or weigh 40 pounds. Children are required to use a booster seat until they are six.
Experts say it's important to make sure your child is strapped in tight in your car before you take off.
"We need to make sure the car seat is installed properly," said Karen Ivey, coordinator with Safe Kids Huntsville. "The biggest mistake we make is not checking to see if the seat is installed properly."
Ivey said the hospital has a permanent filling station. There you can learn how to install a car seat and get a demonstration and the lessons are free.
For more information you can call (256) 265-7296.
The driver and child were taken to Huntsville Hospital. The child suffered minor injuries. The driver of the other vehicle did not need medical attention.
Police are investigating the wreck. They have not said if the woman driving was the child's mother of if she will face charges.
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A child was thrown from the window of a van during a wreck in front of Costco.
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