Child Passenger Safety

"Child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants (under 1 year old) and by 54 percent for toddlers (age 1 to 4 years old)."  

(NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 2007 data.)

This is a subject often overlooked by most parents, yet it is one of the easiest ways to help ensure your child's safety.  You buy a car seat for your child, install it, and never think twice about it.  Most parents probably don't even read the manual that comes with the car seat.  Did you know that 3 out of 4 car seats are installed incorrectly?  It seems so easy right?  Just strap it in with the seat belt and you're good to go.  WRONG. 


I have been a Nationally Certified Child Safety Seat Inspector for the past four years.  During this time I have checked and installed over a thousand car seats.  I can honestly tell you that in the four years I have only come across a dozen or so seats out of the thousand, that have been correctly installed by parents themselves.  I've come to find this volunteer work extremely rewarding, and I plan on continuing it for years to come.  


So how do you tell if your seat is installed correctly?  Without looking at your seat personally I can't guarantee anything.  However, I can give you a few pointers.  The biggest mistake I've seen throughout my four years so far is that seats are never installed tight enough.  I've climbed into cars before and put my hands on the seat only to find that i can move it clear across the whole back seat of the car!  If the vehicle was involved in a crash, what do you think would happen?  If I can move the seat with my bare hands, surely the child would NOT be safe.  The way to check if your child's seat is tight enough is to grab the seat at the point where the child safety seat meets the seat of your vehicle.  Try to move it back and forth, it should move no more than 1 inch from side to side.  If you have any doubts or questions about this, get your child's seat professionally checked!  Another common mistake for an infant seat is to have the seat installed at the incorrect angle.  Infant and Convertible seats have angle indicators on them for a reason.  A newborns neck muscles are not yet developed enough to hold up their head, therefore if the seat is not installed at the proper angle the child can suffocate to death if their head falls forward.  This is not uncommon and has happened too many times.  These are just a few of the millions of mistakes that can be made while installing a seat.  Don't take any chances, get your child's seat professionally checked.  If you don't it could cost you your child's life! 




So how do you get your child's seat checked?  You can find your local child safety seat inspection stations here:
Find a location



Want to become a Nationally Certified Child Safety Seat Inspector?  
Get certified

 


Find the most recent Child Passenger Safety recalls here:
Child Passenger Safety Recalls 
Please make sure that you have the latest recall list, as it is updated periodically.