3 On Your Side: Car Seat Safety
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- When driving in a car, a child should certainly be considered precious cargo. But simply buying a car seat and strapping in your little one may not be enough to protect them. So 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan has some important advice when it comes to child passenger safety.
By some estimates, 80% of child restraints are used incorrectly, and nearly a third of children ride in the wrong restraints for their age and size. Most parents wouldn't think of putting their child in the car without a car seat or a booster seat even if the law didn't require it, but safety seats aren't one-size-fits-all.
Kerry Chausmer of Safe Kids USA says, "Basically they want to choose the car seat fits their child by weight and height and development, that fits correctly in their vehicle, and that they'll use correctly every time."
A properly installed seat is the most effective, but according to Chausmer, "When it comes to installing the car seat, parents sometimes don't snug it up as much as they should. It shouldn't move more than one inch from side to side or towards the front when you pull on it where the seat belt goes through it. You want to make sure the harness is snug. You shouldn't be able to pinch the webbing at the child's shoulders, and that retainer clip should be right at armpit level. That's what's going to keep them in that seat in the event of a crash."
Even after they've outgrown car seats and booster seats, safety experts recommend kids under thirteen stay in the back seat.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has a list of car seat inspection stations with certified technicians to help ensure parents have done it right. In fact this Saturday, September 24th is National Seat Check Saturday.
In order to find an inspection station nearest you, click on this link.
Reported by Jim Donovan, CBS3
