Ninety Percent of Car Safety Seats Installed Incorrectly
Local Experts Offer Tips

The number of children who travel in car seats has increased, statistics from the Greater Houston Safe Kids Coalition reveal, but just because little ones are buckled up does not mean they are safe.

"Of more than 1,200 seats we checked last year, greater than 90 percent were not installed correctly," said Susan Hirtz, manager of the Texas Children’s Center for Childhood Injury Prevention and coalition coordinator. "If a car seat is not installed right, it cannot effectively protect the child."

In an effort to teach parents how to properly install car seats, Texas Children’s Center for Childhood Injury Prevention coordinates the coalition’s free car seat checkups at different locations around Houston.

Certified instructors conduct the checks, which are scheduled throughout the year, to make sure car seats are appropriate for a child. If the seat does not fit well, inspectors show parents how to properly fit the seats. Each instructor has completed a 32-hour, four-day training course to learn to correctly install safety seats.

"There are three easy tips parents need to remember," said Javier Valdez, car passenger safety instructor with the Texas Children’s center. "Parents should read the instructions for the child safety seat or booster seat, read the vehicle owner’s manual and test for a snug, secure fit."

A child safety seat must be held securely against the vehicle seat back, Valdez said. A safety seat should not move more than an inch from side to side or from front to back when parents pull the seat hard at the belt paths.

Correctly installing the seat and securing the child in it are both important; however, using the right type of seat for the child’s age and weight is crucial.

Car Seats for Infants

• Infants younger than 1 year who weigh 20 pounds or less must ride in rear-facing infant seats placed in the back seat of the vehicle. Bigger babies in the same age group may be placed in a convertible safety seat also facing the rear of the car until the child’s first birthday.

Car Safety for Older Children

• When a child weighs 20 to 40 pounds, a convertible seat may be used.
• A child who weighs more than 40 pounds or whose ears show over the top of the convertible seat should ride in a high-back booster seat with a safety harness.

Once children can sit against the back of the seat and bend their legs over the seat edge, they safely may use seat belts. But Hirtz said 4- to 8-year-olds less than 4 feet 9 inches tall are about four times safer in booster seats than in seatbelts.

Children should continue to ride in the back seat until the age of 12, secured by the vehicle’s shoulder and lap belt. Airbags make riding in the front seat especially hazardous for children.

For information on free, car-seat safety checks, visit http://www.texas childrenshospital.org and click on "Texas Children’s Center for Childhood Injury Prevention" under "Patient Care Centers," and then click on "Child Safety."

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/08_15_02/page_14.html