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NEWS RELEASES
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Pager:
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Texas Children's specialists encourage parents to
work with a certified child passenger safety
technician to ensure their child's car seat is
installed correctly.
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HOUSTON
(Feb. 13, 2006) – The birth of a new baby is reason to celebrate,
but it also can cause great anxiety for the new parents.
Installation of the car seat – for many – can be the greatest
challenge, but one of the most critical of responsibilities for the
new mom and dad.
Child
restraints, including car seats, child seats and booster seats –
when installed correctly – save lives.
“According to
the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, four out of five
children’s safety restraints are installed incorrectly,” said Susan
Hirtz, manager of Texas Children’s
Center for Injury Prevention. “Children are exposed to the risk
of injury and death everyday when they are not properly restrained
while riding in vehicles.”
The most
common mistakes parents and caregivers make in the installation of
car seats include:
-
Not using
the right type of child safety seat according to the child’s
weight and height.
For instance, an infant under the age of 1, should be restrained
in a rear-facing car seat. Infants require complete support for
the head and neck. This is necessary because in comparison to
the rest of the body, a baby’s head weighs so much more and the
neck is weak. If a child is properly restrained in a rear-facing
car seat during a crash, the crash forces will settle on the
strongest part of the baby’s body – the shoulders and back.
-
Installing
the seat too loosely.
The seat should not move more than an 1 inch when grabbing the
seat at the belt path and moving side to side or forward. The
parent should put weight on the seat and pull the safety belt as
tight.
-
Not using
the correct belt path.
Car seats can be cumbersome and a little confusing; parents need
to make sure they are using the correct belt path when
installing a child passenger seat.
-
Not using
the harness clip correctly.
The harness clip snaps the vertical and horizontal straps
together. It should be at armpit level – many parents have it at
the child’s belly. That is too low.
“Infants and
children depend on adults to make safe decisions for them,” said
Javier Valdez, a health educator with Texas Children’s Center for
Childhood Injury Prevention. “If a parent has the slightest bit of
doubt about how they’ve installed a car seat, I strongly encourage
them to have a certified child passenger safety technician take a
look at it. It could save your child’s life.”
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