Guidelines for Child Safety Seat Users

Child safety seats to be used inside a car are specially designed for children’s safety. Still, these seats do not always prevent accidents the way they are expected to. This is mainly because they are not used the way they are meant to be. Some of the common mistakes made while using these safety seats are the following:

- The child is often placed in the wrong type of car seat, or in the wrong direction even when the car seat is the right one.
- Harness straps are either positioned wrongly or are loose.
- Harness chest clip is positioned wrongly
- Latch system is used wrongly
- The child is removed from the booster seat and put in the adult seat before he/she is old enough for that
- The child is allowed to ride in front before he/she is big enough for that

Problems in Child Safety Seats

The fact remains that even a car safety seat that is used correctly might fail to perform the way it is expected to. Tests conducted on some of the car child safety seats showed that the cushioning effect provided by these seats is below expectation. Consumer reports statistics has showed that even with the same manufacturer, the model of a car seat used in Europe performed better than the model used in USA.

However, the fact that it is below expectation does not mean that its performance rate is zero. The statistic available with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has revealed the following:

- In the case of children between the ages of 1 and 4, safety seats have been 54% helpful in bringing down deaths and in the case of babies below one, it has been 71% helpful.
- Belt positioning booster seats have been 59% helpful in reducing injury in children of the age group of 4 to 7 years

Controversies Regarding Car Seats

NHTSA or National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has changed its stance after the initial reports. What it said is that the initial consumer reports were published on the basis of the testing done on conditions when a collision occurred when a vehicle is moving at 70 mph, and that when the child safety seats were tested in conditions where the vehicle is moving at 38.5 mph, the seats performed as they were expected to perform. On the basis of the later review, the initial reports have been withdrawn till new testing is done and fresh data is published. At the end of the day, car seats appear to be a really helpful protection device.

Since the final report is still awaited, no one can categorically make any statements about the efficacy of car seats. Still, for those who are in need of a new car seat for the baby, those that are considered best are Graco SnugRide with EPS and Baby Trend Flex-Loc. Both these car seats have passed the Consumer Reports testing and are considered to be a safe bet to strap your child in.

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