Child seat safety still at a low point

Chances are when my child used a car seat 13 years ago, it would not have protected her from serious injury in a car accident. Although I didn’t know it then, I most likely had not installed it correctly.
Luckily, I never had to find out the hard way how dangerous my ignorance was.
But while public awareness of this child safety issue is at the forefront today, compliance among parents of small children is still dangerously low, car seat inspector Tracy Blasky noted last weekend.
She was on hand at a free car seat inspection clinic Saturday at Sunset Country Ford here hosted by the Rainy River Valley Safety Coalition. Only one of 18 car seats inspected by her, Gisele Blais, and OPP Cst. Al MacDonald actually passed the test.
“Only one passed. But it doesn’t surprise me that [most] fail,” Blasky said.
She noted the brunt of the problem is that most people aren’t consistent with safety rules, or just don’t thoroughly read the instructions for their car seat when they buy it.
As a result, things like loose shoulder straps and seat belts, and improper anchoring of tether straps on infant car seats, leave the little travellers sitting ducks for injury in an accident.
It’s the law that people have a tether bolt and tether strap if using a infant car seat.
“What you are supposed to do, also, is put an adult’s weight against the car seat and [jam] it into the upholstery before you secure it,” said Blasky.
“And if you’ve belted it in and anchored it correctly, it shouldn’t move more than a quarter of an inch,” she stressed.
Cst. MacDonald also urged parents to keep an eye on their child’s height when using a car seat. If a child’s head is above the top of seat, it’s time to change it.
He also urged parents to keep shoulder straps flat against the baby’s chest to disperse the energy created in the event of an accident.
Blasky also said booster seats aren’t used correctly. Designed for children weighing 18-20 kg (40-60 pounds), they often get put aside because kids aren’t comfortable using them.
“Parents will say ‘Oh, I don’t keep him in [a booster seat] because he’s doesn’t like it,’” she noted.
And Blasky said car seat belts are designed for adult height and weight requirements and won’t necessarily protect a small child from injury.
“It’s very hard to convince parents to use booster seats and that’s frustrating,” she said. “But they will have to live with the guilt if something happens to their child in an accident because of it.”
According to the Infant & Toddler Safety Association, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children aged one to four.