Tips for Car Seat Safety in PA

Pennsylvania requires all children under the age of four to ride in a certified child restraint, children between ages four and eight to ride in a car seat or booster seat, and children from eight to eighteen to use a seatbelt when riding in a motor vehicle.  In addition, it is recommended that children under 13 ride in the back seat.  But those are basic, minimum guidelines.  There are some nuances to car seat safety that might keep your child safer, and that could be very important... motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death in children under age 18.  

Tip #1: Although the tradition has been to turn children front-facing after their first birthday (provided that they’ve reached 20 pounds), it is now recommended by safety experts and the American Academy of Pediatricians to keep the child rear-facing as long as the seat will allow.  Rear-facing is by far a safer position in the vast majority of crashes... the spine is fully supported and the head and neck are not thrust forward the violent way they are when facing front.  


If you need more convincing, watch the crash test dummy videos of rear vs/ forward facing crashes:

vs.

Some infant "bucket" seats rear-face to 30 pounds, and most convertible(infant to toddler) seats rear-face to 33 or 35 pounds.  Children in many European countries ride rear-facing until kindergarten age, with far fewer serious injuries than in the US.  

Tip #2: Car seats typically expire after 6 years from the date of manufacture (regardless of how long they were used).  You can check your individual brand, but due to advances in technology and the breakdown of materials, expired car seats should be thrown away with straps cut so that no one else tries to re-use them. 

Tip #3: Though many booster seats have age 3 or 30 pounds listed as the minimum weight, virtually every certified child safety technician disagrees with this guideline.  Three years is generally considered too young to be positioned correctly in a booster for an entire ride; children that young, even if big enough, are typically not mature enough to position their body safely in a booster over time.  There are now many five point harness seats with very high weight limits to continue the benefit of 5 pt. harnessing well past the toddler years.  (Why do you think race car drivers have 5 pt. harnesses?)

Tip #4: If you are in a crash, whether your children are in their seats or not at the time of the collision, the seats may need replacing even if they look fine, depending upon the severity of the crash.  Guidelines differ based on manufacturer, but replacement is often covered by car insurance.  It’s recommended to call or check the website of your car seat manufacturer after a crash.  

Tip #5: Over 80% of people who stop to have their car seats checked for proper installation have installed them incorrectly.  Although L.A.T.C.H. has streamlined installation a bit, it is still a challenge to get seats properly installed in every vehicle.  Please have your car seats checked by a certified safety technician.  Here is a link to local car seat safety checks:

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cps/cpsfitting/FindFitting.cfm