Many of us are old enough to remember roaming freely, unbuckled, in the back seat of the car or station wagon as children, or how special it was when you could call shotgun and sit up front.

Such memories now fall in the category – along with asphalt surfaces on playgrounds, tether ball and lawn darts – of things you just don’t see allowed with children anymore. (It also raises the question: How did we ever make it to adulthood?)

It now is a given that young children in vehicles will not just be in seat belts but secured in a proper safety seat, one that’s in back, not alongside the driver as had been common in past decades.

Booster seats usually stick around for the first few years. But what about for kindergartners? First grade? How about for a third-grader?

Michigan’s Child Passenger Safety Law calls for children to be properly buckled in a car seat or booster seat until they are 8 years old or 4 feet, 9 inches in height, whichever comes first.

Both Wisconsin and Michigan will mark Child Passenger Safety Week starting Sunday through Sept. 24.

Both states have videos available on their websites that outline the recommendations for safely transporting younger children in vehicles: the Michigan State Police and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

“The installation and proper use of child safety seats can be challenging, and the type and placement of the seats change as your child grows,” explained David Pabst, director of the WisDOT Bureau of Transportation Safety.

Both states also offer child safety seat inspection stations where authorities can make sure the right seat is being used the right way.

WisDOT offers a list of child passenger safety information resources, including locations for car seat safety checks, on its website.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle crashes are among the leading causes of death for children nationwide.

So take some time in the next week to review the information and resources to make sure any child in your vehicle is riding as safely as possible.

Daily News (Iron Mountain)