|
Car Seat Safety From the very first time you bring your baby home from the hospital, buckling her up in a car safety seat is the best way to avoid injury in an auto accident. Almost 1 1/2 million children are involved in car crashes every year…but only 15 percent are injured because so many parents are diligent about buckling them in. That's the good news. The bad: the number of injuries could be cut substantially if parents learned how to secure their children in a car seat correctly. A 1997 UCLA study concluded that a 97% of car seats are improperly used. And 65% of the children killed in auto accidents weren't wearing any seat belt at all. To keep a child safe inside a moving vehicle, parents must choose the right type of car seat, install the seat correctly, strap the child in properly, and use the seat for every trip. You'll quickly discover that finding the right car seat can be tricky. There are dozens mo models. No single seat is best…and believe it or not, the expensive seats are not necessarily the safest or the best deal. There are so many models on the market, each designed for a specific age, weight and height, parents will need to do comparison-shopping to find the right one. This will be time well spent. That same UCLA study concluded that about 70% of child deaths and injuries could be prevented in parents only used the right type of car seat for their child. For starters, all children under the age of 12 should be placed in the back seat of your car - particularly if the vehicle has passenger side air bags. Even if the bags deploy safely, the impact could injure or kill a child. Once you've purchased a car seat, carefully read both the instructions that came with the seat as well as your vehicle's instruction manual. If you still can't determine the right way to install the seat, your local police or fire department can either show you or help guide you to experts in your area. The most common mistakes parents make include installing the seat too loosely, strapping the seat incorrectly and installing the retainer clip in the wrong location - somewhere other than the child's armpit level. Here's a quick overview of the types of seats you can choose from: Infant-only seats are designed for the ride home from the hospital until the child weighs around 20 pounds and is a year old. An infant-only seat always faces the rear of your car's back seat. By your child's first birthday, it's safe to use a convertible or forward-facing seat, ideally one with a five-point harness. Once your child is three years old and weighs at least 40 pounds, it's safe to graduate to a belt-positioning booster seat. Many children are eager to move into one of these "big kids" seats early, but don't rush it. Keep your child in the safety seat for as long as possible. Your child shouldn't ride in the back seat with only a belt and shoulder strap until the age of eight. Your vehicle and the size of your child will determine this. Your child's:
Never leave your child strapped in a car seat unattended…particularly on a hot day. And finally, while it can still be safe to purchase a used car seat, make sure the seat has a manufacturer's label that shows a model number and date of manufacture. The government has recalled thousands of cat seats for various reasons over the years, and you'll need this information to find out if your seat is ever affected. You can check on federal recalls by calling the manufacturer or by dialing toll-free 1-888-327-4236 or 1-800-424-9393. All facts, data, and useful tips provided are for informational purposes only and should not be used as a replacement for medical advice. |