This study looked at critical misuses only: those misuses "that could reasonably be expected to raise the risk of injury to a child." The critical misuses documented were:
-age and weight appropriateness of Child Restraint System (CRS)
-direction of CRS
-placement of CRS in relation to air bags
-installation and secureness of CRS to the vehicle seat (tight safety belt)
-secureness/tightness of harness straps and crotch strap of the CRS
-use of locking lcip for certain vehicle safety belts
-fit of vehicle safety belts across child in belt-positioning booster seat
-defective or broken CRS elements
in children under 80 pounds in six states. They collected data on 5,527 children in 4,126 vehicles. 11.8% of these children were completely unrestrained.
Some highlights:
Critical CRS misuse was observed for more than seven-in-ten (72.6%) CRSs. 83.9% of infant seats had a critical misuse, 83.5% of rear-facing convertible seats did, 81.9% of forward facing convertible seats did, and 79.3% of forward-only seats did.
There were lots of problems with booster seats as well, especialy shield boosters (60.5%). Belt-positioning boosters, the easiest CRSs to use, had a critical misuse rate of 39.5%.
As for integrated seats? The ones that come in your car already? Yeah. Integrated forward-facing seats had a 63.6% critical misuse rate, integrated boosters, 42.9%.
114 of the CRSs had visible damage. Visible damage! How can you put your child in a broken restraint system? I just cannot comprehend this!
And a note on children in safety belts. If your child is under 80 pounds, he or she very probably does not fit in a safety belt. Of the children observed wearing a safety belt instead of being in a CRS, improper fit was observed for 69 percent of the children in lap/shoulder belt combinations, 70 percent of the children in lap-belt-only systems, and 88 percent of the children in shoulder-belt-only systems. The guideline is - assuming you don't have a more specific law in your state - that if the child can sit with their backside against the seat bight (that's where the back meets the seat) and have their knees over the edge of the seat so that their legs form a 90 degree angle, then it is likely that the seat belt will fit them. The shoulder belt should not touch their face. It should cross just like yours does, across the collar bone and the sternum. The lap belt needs to be low and snug across the hips - not the stomach!
This report makes me so sad. These are not little errors like having after-market attachments, or accidentally twisting the harness strap! These are critical misuses.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to have your CRS inspected by a certified technician. It doesn't matter how good your intentions are - chances are extremely good that your seat is improperly installed. The car manufacturers and the CRS manufacturers are just terrible at writing instructions. It's frightening! The introducion of the LATCH system is a step in the right direction, but even those can be installed improperly (this study saw 42 instances of LATCH use, and 12 of them were improperly installed).
Any time you get a new seat, turn a convertable seat around, or, frankly, move a seat - please have it inspected. You can find inspectors in your area at SeatCheck.org. If you're in my area, call me. It's free, and it only takes half an hour at the most - that includes getting information from you and your CRS, and also giving you information on how best to use your CRS in your vehicle.
If you have kids, or transport kids, please read this report, and please have your seats inspected. It can literally save the children's lives.
Posts: 3214 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Thanks for posting this, Vana! Indiana just passed a law that requires kids up to age 8 to sit in a booster. Our kids have for the last several years after I read an article about them. Boy Opera is 9, and is still small enough to need one because the seat belt doesn't fit him correctly otherwise. It's good to get stuff like that out here!
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You know what I wish? I wish that there was a CRS that you could buckle a rigid screaming 2 year old into without hurting them or yourself in the process. That would be a great invention.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Thanks for posting this. I had my seats checked on the old car, but I really need to do it again now that they are installed in the van.
Posts: 1021 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Is it a bad thing that I started reading this thread as if "restraints" was a reference to physically restraining a child (eg. from a fight)?
Posts: 2849 | Registered: Feb 2002
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If my parents had followed these guidelines, I would have been in a kiddie seat until high school.
Posts: 349 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Zamphyr, considering when I graduated HS I weighed 85lbs, I know I would have, probably up to and including the year I learned to drive. And my 72 year old aunt would still have to sit in one. And come to think of it, she kind of does...she has a booster seat so she can see when she's driving.
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Zamphyr and jeniwren, yes, I know that's probably true. And the weight guidelines are that, especially when the child gets to be 12. However, if the seat belt doesn't fit properly, no matter what age you are, it will not protect you as it should. Two of the other technicians I work with are also very small and slight, and have problems fitting appropriately in some seatbelts.
My suggestion, if you are a small adult, is to have a small car. Check the fit of the belts in cars before purchasing one. And have airbags.
NHTSA's not trying to be mean or difficult - they want to keep people safe!
Posts: 3214 | Registered: Apr 2002
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A coworker who is expecting her first child next month went car shopping a couple of weeks ago with her DH. I advised her to take the car seat along so they could try it out before they bought the new car. She took my advice. Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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My 8 year old is no longer in a booster, but the 4 year old twins are. Of course, my 12 year old isn't.
My husband installs our car seats, I don't have the strength to pull the belt tightly enough to get the fit where the seat won't wobble. He can do it where that sucker doesn't move, so all I have to worry about is getting the twins in the harness straps. Ha.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Belle, that's excellent - it is sometimes very difficult to get those things in tight! The recommendation is that the seat should not move more than an inch in any direction at the belt path. We also try to get it tight enough so that it doesn't move at all, though, of course.
I imagine your kids are in forward-facing only seats, since they're four - they've probably outgrown their convertable seats (unless you have an Alpha Omega or something). Just make sure the harness straps are anchored above their shoulders, and you're good to go! Posts: 3214 | Registered: Apr 2002
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So Vana... my son who is about to turn 8 is 46 pounds...my dh insists that he can be out of the booster at his birthday but I say he needs to be in longer..I'm right, aren't I?
Posts: 1021 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I prefer to just freeze them in a block of carbonite and stow them in the trunk. They're pretty much impervious to harm while they're frozen, although I'll freely admit that having to take along a pit crew of oompa-loompa like aliens to thaw them out can be a little inconvenient. Still, for safety and peace and quiet on long trips, you really can't beat carbonite.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Vana, just fyi...Alpha Omega seats are wonderfully versatile. We don't have one, but they are highly recommended among parents of hip babies. Hip babies are infants and toddlers with hip dysplasia. My daughter had surgery for this in late 2003 and had to use a Spelcast seat in the car, which are difficult to come by in some areas. (Spelcasts are essentially just a shallow shelf with a five point harness. There isn't much "seat" to them, because they're designed for children whose legs are casted far apart and may not be in much of a seated position.) Alpha Omega is one of the only CRS's on the common market that are known to work for a number of hipbabies. It depends upon the shape of their cast or brace.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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dpr (and anyone else with the same question) - If your state has a law specifically giving an age or weight requirement for keeping children in booster seats - follow that. Otherwise, check how he fits in the safety belt. He may or may not fit - I can't tell without seeing him in the car. But booster seats are there for the purpose of positioning the belt correctly. You can try him in the seat belt, if your husband insists, but if he doesn't fit properly, keep him in the booster.
If your husband is being stubborn, or you're not sure, you can always go see a technician - he or she can help you out.
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Based on those guidelines, the rear-seat safety belts don't fit me.
My pet peeve: baby in lap on airplanes and three-year-olds whose faces I can see because they're kneeling backwards on the seat of the car in front of me, completely unrestrained.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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jeniwren - yeah, Alpha Omegas are great as long as they fit your car! It's nice to be able to use the same seat for so long. And it's excellent to know that they're especially useful for children with hip dysplasia. I'll be sure to keep that in mind in case it comes up!
Posts: 3214 | Registered: Apr 2002
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ketchupqueen - don't ride in your back seat, then! Some cars have really side back seats - great for putting in a CRS, but bad for sitting back there by yourself. But, as an adult, as long as the seat belt sits low on your hips and also fits properly across the chest, the position of your legs is less important. It's just an easy way to check that the belt fits properly - if the legs bend over the seat, then the belt is sure to fit as well.
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PSI, she has one of those cars where the pedals adjust forward so she can reach them. Before she got her current car, she had extensions installed on the pedals.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Kq- Alot of parents carry their babies because they can't afford a seat for them. There should be someway to harness them [to the mother?] for take-off and landing, though.
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There is: it's a vest-type harness that clips to mom's (or dad's) safety belt. It's approved for international flights, although not US flights, go figure. (They won't stop you from using it, though.) I'm talking about babies who are climbing all over, though.
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