CHARLOTTE, N.C. — According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, car crashes are a leading cause of death for children aged one to 13. But data also shows that 325 children under five are saved by car seats in one year.
It is child passenger safety week, and advocates are stressing the importance of proper car seat use.
Accidents happen but using the tools meant to protect children properly could be a matter of life and death.
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“Car seat safety is the difference between walking away from a car crash or a trip to the hospital where you have to worry and agonize if your kid is going to be safe, Dahlia Rizk, a child passenger safety expert said. “90% of parents think that they have their car seat in right and are using it right but about 60% of parents are using their car seat incorrectly.”
Car seats can be complicated. There are store aisles full of choices and installation may be a challenge. But Rizk says there are a few common mistakes.
“One of the things you see is the harness way down here. This is a pre-crash positioner; it keeps the harness straps over the shoulders so that the child doesn’t fly out of the car seat in a crash. So, you want to have the clip right here at the armpit level so that the harness is where it belongs. You should have no twists in the harness. Sometimes twists get in their parents think it's ok, but twists can actually cut through your child in a crash and it also weakens the webbing,” she said.
And in the wintertime, while you might think it’s keeping your kid warm, a puffy jacket can do more harm than good.
“I thought that extra padding keeps them safe like a bubble but really it compresses underneath the harness making your child travel forward and when they hit the harness instead of traveling with it, they can have brain neck and spine injuries it's really very dangerous,” Rizk said.
She recommends reading the car and car seat manuals to fully understand the right way to install them.
That way if an accident happens, parents can have peace of mind.
Contact Chloe Leshner at cleshner@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.