Car Seat FAQ's
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Which car seat is
escape-proof? 
Unfortunately, there is no
escape-proof car seat. Children who learn how to get out of one kind of car seat quickly learn how to escape from others. However, based on a study in which SafetyBeItSafe U.S.A. participated, most children respond to parental firmness quickly.
For the others, there is hope! First, make sure that the shoulder straps are in the correct slots, that the harness is very snug, and that the retainer clip is in place at armpit level.
Next, plan to spend one or two intense weeks working on the problem. Bring the safety seat into your home and let your child play "mom" or "dad" and carefully buckle in a favorite doll or animal. This dramatic play begins the process of identification with the best way to behave. Schedule each day so that you have enough time to pull over and stop the car every single time your child gets out of the safety seat. Each time, explain that you cannot drive until everyone is buckled up. If you act bored instead of angry, she will soon get tired of misbehaving.
Plan some rewards, too. For instance, arrange a special trip to a place the child likes to visit and explain that the car will get there faster if everyone stays buckled up. Try playing audio cassettes your child
likes-- rotate them to prevent boredom. Also, give your child soft toys and books to play with in the car
-- nothing hard or sharp that could hurt someone in a crash. If money is tight, try trading toys with a friend or relative, then trading back again when the children are bored with the first set of toys.
If your child belongs to a group program, discuss the need for a
buckle-up program for all of the children and parents. There are probably other parents who would welcome this kind of help as well. The excellent "Bucklebear" curriculum and associated materials can be helpful in such efforts.
When can I turn my baby around to face forward in the car?
When he is AT LEAST one year old, preferably longer. In Sweden, for many years, children have ridden
rear-facing until three to five years of age in big seats made to fit larger children. In a crash, an infant's spinal cord may stretch if he is riding facing forward
-- and the baby could die or be paralyzed for life. This is true even for babies who have strong neck muscles and good head control.
Why is facing rearward so
important- Babies have heavy heads and fragile necks. The neck bones are soft, and the ligaments are stretchy. If the baby is facing forward in a frontal crash
-- which is the most common and most severe type -- the body is held back by the straps, but the head is not. The head is thrust forward, wrenching the neck. Older children and adults wearing safety belts may end up with temporary neck injuries. But a baby's neck bones actually separate during a crash, and the spinal cord can rip. It's like yanking an electrical plug out of a socket by the cord and breaking the wires.
In contrast, when a baby rides facing backwards, the whole body
-- head, neck, and torso -- is cradled by the back of the safety seat in a frontal crash. Facing rearward also protects the baby better in other types of crashes, particularly side impacts.
There are several convertible safety seats which can be used facing the rear up to 30 pounds, so there is no reason to turn your baby forward before age one and risk spinal injury. However, DO NOT use an
infant-only seat the type that usually has a carrying handle
if your baby's weight is over the maximum (20-22 pounds) or if her head is approaching the top edge of the seat.
How can I tell if the safety seat fits my car?
Read the instructions that came with the safety seat! Also read the owner's manual for your car; look in the index under "child restraint." You may need special equipment from the dealer to install your seat safely. You may have problems if the vehicle seat has deep contours, humps, or certain types of safety belts. A safety seat should not wobble, pivot, slide
side-to-side, or tip over. It should stay nice and tight once it's installed.
How can I install the safety seat securely?
After you have read the instructions for both the safety seat and the vehicle, follow these steps to install the safety seat: First, compress the vehicle seat cushion by pushing down on the safety seat. Then remove all of the slack from the lap portion of the vehicle belt. Finally, test the lap portion of the vehicle belt and make sure it is "locked" to prevent gradual loosening.
How can I tell if my safety seat is installed tightly enough?
For a rear-facing safety seat, grip the top edge and try to push it downward. The back of the safety seat should stay firmly in place at the same angle (reclined about halfway back). It is acceptable (and normal) if the seat can be flipped over toward the rear of the car. After a
rear-facing seat is installed as firmly as possible, it may still swivel a few inches from side to side (toward the front right or left fender of the vehicle).
For a forward-facing safety seat with a harness, grip the top edge of the seat and try to tilt it forward and sideways. If it moves more than one inch toward the front of the car or tips to the side, try another seating position. If it cannot be installed firmly, it is advisable to install a tether strap (if possible) or to replace the safety seat with one that fits better in the vehicle.
Belt-positioning boosters should fit the shape of the vehicle seat so they sit flat and don't tip. Make sure the vehicle belt is positioned correctly on the child.
When can I move my child into a booster seat?
Not until she has completely outgrown her regular safety seat
when she weighs more than 40 pounds or is too tall for it. She is too tall if her shoulders are higher than the top set of harness slots or if the tips of her ears are above the back of the safety seat (the hard plastic, not the puffy fabric).
If she is too tall for her convertible seat but still weighs less than 40 pounds, switch to a
child-seat/booster. These seats are slightly taller and can be used with the
built-in harness for children up to 40 pounds and later as a belt positioning booster, with lap AND shoulder belt, for children up to 60?100 pounds.
Is it legal for my child to ride in a booster at 30 pounds?
Most boosters are labeled with a
30 pound minimum, so they are legal --but more protection is better than less. Safety seats with a harness have straps over both shoulders plus a crotch strap to keep the lap belt low on the hips. They protect small children better than a
belt-positioning booster, which is used with the vehicle lap/shoulder belt.
Shield boosters - the kind with no back and a "bolster" in front of the child
provide even less protection, especially in rollover crashes. They are no longer certified for children weighing more than 40 pounds, and children under 40 pounds are much safer in a regular safety seat with harness straps.
Is it safe for my infant to ride alone in the rear seat?
Yes. In fact, in a car with two air bags, riding in the front seat could be deadly for your baby, even in a very
low-speed crash. NEVER, EVER put a rear-facing baby in front of an air bag. The
rear-facing baby's skull could be fractured as the air bag (not yet inflated) explodes from the dashboard at 200 miles per hour.
In a car with no air bag in front, the back seat is still safer, since it is farther from the action in a frontal crash
-which is the most common and most severe kind. Having the baby in back also helps you to keep your eyes on the road. With the baby in back, you have no choice but to do the safe thing when she really needs your attention
-- pull over and stop. If your baby's doctor has said someone must watch her at all times because of a medical problem, then you will need to have two adults in the car
-- one driving, the other sitting in back with the baby.
My
six year old child rides in a lap-only belt in the center of the back seat.
Is he safe?
If you have no shoulder belts in the back seat, use the lap belt for now. A lap belt at least keeps a passenger from being thrown out of the car in a crash, which increases the risk of death four times compared to staying in the car.
If shoulder belts are available but the child is sitting in a center lap belt, move the child to the side. Use the lap AND shoulder
belt with a belt-positioning booster until the child is big enough to fit well without a booster. Use the
lap-only belt for installing a safety seat if you also have a smaller child.
Lap belts cannot hold back the upper body. As the face slams down into the knees in a crash, the abdomen and spinal cord can be severely injured ("seat belt syndrome"). If you have a car with no shoulder belts, contact the vehicle dealer to order a retrofit kit designed by the manufacturer for the specific vehicle. You may need to ask for assistance from the zone parts manager.
Another possible solution for older children is the
E-Z-On Y-harness, available from E-Z-On Products of Jupiter, Florida (800) 323?6598. The harness is made of safety belt fabric and is shaped like an
upside-down "Y." The regular lap belt threads through loops sewn into the "branches" of the "Y." The "trunk" of the "Y" has to be bolted into the back of your car, according to the instructions.
Is it safe for two children to share one safety belt?
No. A crash test was conducted with two "child" dummies sitting side by side and buckled into one belt. The dummies' heads crashed together hard enough to kill real children
-- and real children have died this way. Children also have died from sitting on someone's lap, with both of them buckled into one belt. In a crash, the
lap-held child is crushed to death as the weight of the older child or adult smashes him against the belt. Remember this rule: "One person, one safety belt;" just like "one person, one vote." If you transport more people in your vehicle than you have belts, you may not have adequate insurance to cover all of the claims resulting from a crash.
What about safety belts on school buses?
Although school buses are a very safe form of transportation, use of safety belts could be effective in reducing the number of injuries and deaths. In addition, it is important to teach children to buckle up consistently in all vehicles.
At present, only New York State and New Jersey have laws requiring lap belts on all new school buses
-- and only New Jersey has an additional law saying that the students have to use the belts. The New Jersey Institute of Technology calculated in 1989 that 70% of deaths and 64% of serious injuries to children riding in school buses occur in
side-impact crashes or rollovers. Safety belts could be highly effective in reducing those numbers. For more information, contact the National Coalition for School Bus Safety.
Should my child use a safety seat on an airplane?
Yes. The Federal Aviation Administration strongly recommends, but does not require, using safety seats on airplanes. Babies and children are much better protected during turbulence and in emergency landings when they use a safety seat. SafetyBeItSafe U.S.A. has petitioned the FAA to require all passengers to be buckled up, including children under two, who currently are exempt. The White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security has recommended that all children be properly restrained.
If you buy a ticket for your child, you have a right to use the safety seat. But if you don't buy a ticket and want to use the nearest empty seat, the airline can refuse. Find the wording on the label and in the instruction booklet that says your seat is certified for use in aircraft in case a flight attendant questions you. Many airlines have discounts for children under age two.
Measure your safety seat at its widest point. It should be no wider than 17", or it probably won't fit into a
coach-class seat. Since airplanes have no shoulder belts, booster seats cannot be used. Harnesses and vests also are not permitted.
A rear-facing seat should not be a problem to install.
Rear-facing seats protect best, but a forward-facing safety seat is much better than none. If you plan to use a
forward-facing seat, follow these steps to get it tight. Recline the airplane seatback; thread the belt through the safety seat; face the buckle flap BACKWARDS, toward the airplane seatback, so that you will have room to open it again; buckle the belt; kneel in the safety seat and pull on the loose end of the airplane belt to tighten it; get out and bring the airplane seatback fully upright.
Why are air bags dangerous to children age 12 and under?
Air bags inflate at speeds up to 200 mph
-- faster than the blink of an eye -- to protect adults in a
front-end collision. That blast of energy can severely hurt or kill passengers and drivers who are too close to the air bag. An infant's head in a
rear-facing safety seat is directly in front of the air bag as it breaks through the dashboard and instantly inflates. Even some forward facing child safety seats could possibly place the child within range of the air bag before it is fully inflated. Also, if a child is unbelted, or too small for the lap and shoulder belt to fit properly, or wriggling around or leaning forward, there is a danger that the child will be too close to the dashboard during that instant that the air bag begins to inflate.
How can an air bag work so well for adults, but hurt children in the front passenger seat?
An average size adult who is correctly belted is not likely to come in contact with the air bag until it is fully inflated. A fully inflated air bag spreads the forces of the crash across a wide area of the body. Even an unbelted adult will probably come in contact with the air bag at the chest area after the bag has at least partially inflated. For greatest protection, both the driver and front passengers should be buckled up and the seats moved back as far as practical to allow ample space for the air bag to expand.
Unbelted or improperly belted children can easily slide off the seat during
pre-crash braking, throwing them against the dashboard where the air bag can strike them on the head or neck with tremendous force before it is fully inflated.
The air bag only inflates in front end crashes and collapses immediately. For protection in all types of collisions ?multiple, rollover, rear end, side and front end
-- it is very important to always use both lap and shoulder belts.
Why are children safer
in the back seat?
The rear seat is the safest seat for any passenger.
Head-on crashes cause the greatest number of serious injuries. A person sitting in the back seat is farthest away from the impact and less likely to be injured. People sitting in the rear have the soft back of the front seat in front of them, instead of hard surfaces like the windshield, mirror or dashboard.
If it is absolutely necessary for a child age 12 or under to ride in the front seat of a car with a passenger side air bag, secure the child in a restraint system that is correct for the size of the child - a
front-facing child safety seat, a booster seat, or a lap/shoulder belt - AND move the front seat as far back away from the dashboard as possible.
If the vehicle has no back seat, such as a pickup truck, an infant will be safe in a
rear-facing child seat only if the vehicle does not have a passenger side air bag or if it has a cutoff switch for the passenger side air bag.
In summary, people riding in the front seat who are most likely to be injured or killed by an inflating air bag are:
- infants riding in
rear-facing car seats;
- children age 12 and under who are not properly secured in a restraint system that is appropriate for their size -a
forward facing safety seat, booster seat, or correct fitting lap and shoulder belt;
- children or adults who are not buckled up;
- children or adults who place the shoulder belt either behind their back or under their arm; and
- persons sitting too close to the steering wheel or dashboard so that they come into contact with the air bag before it is fully inflated.
Is it true that a passenger can be smothered by an air bag?
No! The injuries that occur are caused by the inflating bag hitting the head and neck of an
out-of-position passenger or the inflating bag hitting the back of an infant seat behind a baby's head. The air bag loses its air right after it inflates, so the stiff fabric does not remain over the passenger's face.
When parents learn that an air bag can harm a baby in a
rear-facing infant seat, many of them want to place the baby facing forward. Is this okay?
No! Infants must always ride facing the rear in the back seat.
Both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warn that babies should ride facing the back until they are at least one year old and weigh at least 20 pounds. A child under age one does not have strong neck muscles; the head would snap forward in a crash if the baby were facing forward. This could cause serious neck and spinal cord injury.
When the child is facing the back, the force of the crash is spread across the whole body. The child seat harness must be snug, and the seat should be at a 45?degree angle to support the baby's head and maintain an open airway. Some safety seats have an indicator on the side to show the correct angle. A child seat that installs in a position that is too upright can be angled properly by using a firmly rolled sheet or towel under the foot of the seat.
Many parents don't want to put their infants in the back seat because they cannot see them. Shouldn't a parent keep an eye on the baby to make sure it is not choking or experiencing some other health problem?
The risk of a serious injury in a crash is much greater than the risk of a healthy baby having a
life-threatening problem during a car ride. A healthy baby correctly buckled in a
rear-facing child seat should be as safe as a child placed in a crib for a nap or an overnight sleep. Parents do not stay in the room to watch a sleeping baby.
Drivers traveling with children should always allow plenty of time to pull off the road if they are concerned about the baby or need to tend to the child's needs.
If a child is too small to wear a shoulder belt correctly, will the lap belt protect the child from an air bag?
No. If a child uses only the lap portion of a safety belt, his or her upper body will be thrown forward when the driver brakes or during the crash itself. The inflating bag will strike the child's head and neck very hard.
Whether in the front seat or rear seat, children can suffer serious or fatal injuries if they wear a shoulder belt wrong, such as under the arm or behind the back. A child who is too short for the shoulder belt (for example, the belt cuts across the neck or face) should always use a convertible or toddler safety seat (if the child is under 40 pounds and 40 inches) or a
belt-positioning booster seat (if the child is over 40 pounds and 40 inches). Remember that a
belt-positioning booster seat must be used with both the lap and shoulder belts, preferably in the rear seat, which is always safer than the front seat.
How can a driver or passenger
tell whether a vehicle has an air bag?
Vehicles with air bags have one or more of the following markings:
- the words "Air Bag" or the letters "SRS" (Supplemental Restraint System) or "SIR" (Supplemental Inflatable
Restraint) on the steering wheel and dashboard panel.
- a warning label on the sun visors or on the sides of the open door frame. o a warning in the vehicle owner's manual.
Consult the owner's manual to find information about carrying children safely in a vehicle equipped with an air bag.
"I feel I should always keep an eye on my infant, and I keep hearing that the safest place to put my infant is in the back seat. But if the seat has to be installed rear facing, I can't see . her! What should 1 do?"
This is a concern of many parents. However, the bottom line is that the back seat is the safest place for a child of any age to ride. Drivers who travel alone should allow plenty of time to pull off the road if they feel the need to periodically check on the baby. You may want to compare your child traveling to your child sleeping. You probably don't watch your baby sleep all through the night. A healthy baby properly secured in a safety seat should not need constant watching.
"My children are at ages where they get restless in their car seats and try to move around. 1find it very distracting. Plus they fight with each other. I think it's safer to put one of them up front where 1 can keep an eye on him."
No. The safest place is in the rear seat properly buckled. It is critical not to give in to a child's "growing pains" while traveling in a motor vehicle. Bring along some soft toys to keep them occupied while properly buckled up and seated in the back seat. This may sound difficult, but never take short cuts when it comes to children's safety.
"I have trouble securing my child safety seat in my car. It doesn't seem to work well with my seat belt system. What am I doing wrong?"
You may not be doing anything wrong. Some child safety seats and some vehicle belt systems are not compatible. The most important thing to do is read the instructions that come with the child seat (and keep them handy at all times) and all sections in the vehicle manual that discuss safety seat installation. Never undertake "make shift" measures. Your child should fit securely in the safety seat and the safety seat should fit securely in the vehicle seat. If it doesn't, contact the car seat manufacturer.
"I have three children and my back seat only seats two. 1 transport all three kids to school and other activities. I've
heard that children belong in the rear seat. What can 1 do?"
You're right. The safest place is the rear seat. However, there are times when placing all children in the rear isn't possible (as in your case where there aren't enough belts for all three children). If you must seat a child in the front seat, usually the oldest/largest child would be the most appropriate. If your child is the proper size, make sure that the lap and shoulder belts are properly fastened and move the vehicle seat back as far as possible away from the dashboard.
Note:
If your vehicle has a passenger-side air bag, the only place for a
rear-facing infant seat to be installed is in the rear seat.
taken
from: www.carseat.org
email
us at CarSeatSafety@brocktonpolice.com
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