Nevada ranks near bottom in Car Seat safety. Not Just Nevada, but almost every state is at the bottom of the pile as 97% of all car seats are installed incorrectly. How is this possible in a day and age where parents have over 500 choices of child car restraints and government mandates include laws for car manufacturers to install LATCH systems?
Too much information, lack of education, misinformation and a patchwork of laws?
YES, all of the above. Consider the conversation regarding rear vs. forwarding facing. Everyone agrees infants need to be rear facing for at LEAST the first year, while some states will allow you to turn the seat around at the year mark. WHAT? Yup, even as a majority of states require rear-facing until two years of age or a weight exceeding 25 lbs, or height of 3 feet. The height and weight are considered more appropriate, if you use the lowest figure as the basis, since kids grow: heavier, taller at different ages.
States like Nevada have tried to pass legislation to encourage the use of higher height and weight requirements rather than 8 years or 80 lbs. to keep youngsters safely buckled in the back seat longer. These initiatives have failed on capitol hill, which doesn’t make the initiative less right, as it does the appointed guardians of our laws less willing to mandate safe practices or fund education for those parents who don’t get it. Opponents call this recent attempt to change the car seat size language a NANNY-state issue, well better laws which mirror best practices in the majority of the country help eliminate confusion.
Add to this rear vs. forward issue, the question of the BEST placement of the car seat, middle, left or right?This has as much to do with the vehicle seat size and shape as it does the size of the actual child car seat and the driver’s seat, flexibility of the primary caregiver and number/size of other passengers in the rear of the car.
Oh, and I haven’t addressed the LOWER ANCHORS vs. SEAT BELT, “which is better?” question, yet.
Oy Vey.
BEST PRACTICES in CAR SEAT USE.
Simply put, here are my top ten tips for easy car seat installation.- REAR facing as long as possible. We know it’s not convenient, easy to do BUT IT IS SAFER. Try to hold off turning your child to forward facing until the seat child meets the highest requirement, is at least old enough to get into the seat and buckle themselves or all the above.The latest GRACO seat includes a slide-out shelf for growing legs.
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LATCH vs. Seatbelt. NEVER BOTH.
You should get to know both as you will inevitably have to move to the seat-belt at some point, when the child outgrows the LOWER ANCHORS (usually around 40 lbs.) However, the LOWER ANCHORS are easier for most parents as twisting, slack and child disabling are less frequent. - LOCATION,LOCATION,LOCATION. I prefer the middle of the back seat whenever possible. It’s the safest for obvious reasons, further from side impact and side airbags. When other circumstances make this a less likely alternative, move to the passenger side rear seat. This position allows you to safely remove the child onto the sidewalk when exiting the vehicle, not into traffic.
- CAR SEAT LIFESPANS. Every car seat has a manufacture date. Car seats expire, like bad milk. You wouldn’t give your child old milk, why put your baby in an expired car seat? Testing an unsafe situation is not a proven theory for good thinking, get rid of the seat and get a new one. Your child is worth it. This goes for hand-me-downs and yard sale finds.*
- ACCIDENTS HAPPEN. If your car seat is in the car at the time of a crash, big or small, with the child in the car or NOT, out goes the car seat. The insurance company is REQUIRED to replace the car seat. Cut the straps, throw it out. the webbing is now compromised and could fail in the next crash.
- OUTGROWING the CARSEAT. When your child’s head is 1″ from the top position of the head reat or top edge of the car seat/infant bucket, it is time to move to the next size seat. This could be a convertible seat which goes from rear-facing to front-facing to a 90 lb. max weight or 4′ height.
- NOTHING UNDER THE SEAT. No towels or third-party pocket protectors under the car seat base. If the car seat didn’t come with it or is specifically made by the car seat manufacturer for THAT seat, don’t use it. It reduces the safety of the seat in a crash and could eliminate any car seat maker liability for product failure in the event of a crash.
- NO NO NO HANGING TOYS, strap-on mirrors or loose bottles. All of these lovely enhancements become deadly projectiles to passenger and driver alike, in the event of a crash.
- SWEATERS-JACKETS OFF. Think of a turtle in its shell. The coat or sweater is the shell around your child buckled into the seat. In a crash the clothing provides extra slack, allowing your child to slide out of the harness and become airborne. remove the outer garment before securing the child. turn the coat towards the child placing their arms into the sleeves backwards. now its a blanket with arm access.
- 2 HANDS are better than 1. When installing the car seat it’s easier to have a second person check your work. That extra eye on the seat level, tightness in the harness (i.e. can’t pinch the strap) or tug on the belt, can make a huge difference. The SEAT should not move/sway/budge more than an inch, AT THE BELT-PATH. If you are concerned it doesn’t look or feel right, find your closest professionally certified car seat installer.
Sarah Lee Marks is a professional automotive industry and auto safety expert of over 25 years. 5x published author, media spokesperson and guest lecturer. Founder of SMARTeen Driver, a program dedicated to teaching new drivers car care and emergency roadside skills and adult AARP Driver safety instructor. Marks is also a Nevada Mobile Notary and DMV processor. She regularly writes on various automotive news and is an active consumer car advocate. As a proud grand-mother of 2, she is a mobile car seat installer, licensed in Nevada and certified by SAFEKIDS Worldwide. She resides in Henderson, Nevada. [cn-social-icon]]]>