SAFETY SQUAD: Empowing Your Family

30 lb booster seats: It's time for a change (PART 2)

We just returned from Lifesavers 2008 in Portland, Oregon. Among other things, this conference focuses on car seat safety. Unlike the ABC Conference in Las Vegas which is geared to retailers, this conference focuses on car seat technicians and the challenges they face.

One topic we addressed was the 30 lb booster seat issue. Booster use is rising as states are requiring parents to use boosters or higher-weight harnesses to increased ages, weights and heights. This provides manufacturers a more robust market for selling...

Recaro Como Announcement: Part Two, Commentary

Over the last year, we have become increasingly disturbed by the conduct of car seat manufacturers when faced with a possible recall. On the 20th of December, Recaro North America issued a "Consumer Advisory" for the Recaro Como child seat. We are amazed at how poorly they have addressed the issue.

Back Story: Recaro provides robust construction, side-impact protection and style. You pay for those features, but what you get when properly installed, is a safe seat. They have some downsides, but in general, they have a good product and good reputation. That they may have to issue a recall is not a shocker. Every manufacturer eventually has recalls. When handled well they improve the brand, not hurt it.

The following references seatbelt installations not LATCH installations. If you are using LATCH you should not be concerned about the "lock-off" issue being addressed. 

Safety Squad works with all types of seats and installations. It's not uncommon for us to install one seat four or more different ways in one vehicle to find the best position. We deal with lock-offs every day and often call manufacturers when something is unclear; if we don't understand...then parents definitely won't. Car seat makers installed lock-offs on seats as a supplement or alternative to locking devices built into vehicles (locking retractors, locking latch plates, etc). Many of the errors parents make when installing seats with seatbelts can be related to locking difficulties. So, car seat makers added lock-offs to make it easier. When a lock-off is used instead of a switchable retractor or latch plate and the lock-off fails the seat will loosen.

Safety Belts & School Buses

Currently school bus transportation is the safest form of ground transportation available. School buses are nearly 8 times safer than passenger vehicles.  There are several reasons for this:

• School buses are larger and heavier than normal passenger cars.
• Besides being big, they are also easier to see because of their color.
• School buses also must meet tougher safety standards than passenger cars.
• The smaller buses (under 10,000 pounds) are equipped with lap belts.  These buses should be used for transporting pre-school age children so that the kids can be correctly protected in their child restraint.

On the larger buses, compartmentalization is used to protect the occupants.  Compartmentalization uses the concept of eggs in a carton.  This means that seats on school buses must have high, energy absorbing seat backs that are flexible.  The combination of energy-absorbent seats and narrow spacing creates a compartment within which each occupant is confined in a crash.

While neither compartmentalization nor the belts are perfect, they currently offer the best options for protection on school buses.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, fewer than eight passengers die in school bus crashes every year, even though 474,000 school buses carry 25.1 million children more than 4.8 billion miles annually.  That’s a small percentage of people killed, but remember, each of those deaths represents 100% of someone’s child.

The federal government recently announced a new proposal to make school buses safer by requiring higher seat backs and setting new safety belt standards for school buses.  If the proposal is adopted it would mean increased protection on all new buses by improving on the compartmentalization concept.  On the smaller buses, lap-shoulder belts would be required instead of a lap belt only.  The proposal also allows school districts to use federal highway safety funds to cover the additional cost of equipping buses with seat belts.

Additional steps can be taken such as improved school bus driver training and monitors on the buses but this new proposal is a step in the right direction.  As technology improves and new innovations are introduced, highway safety in general, and safe school bus transportation specifically will get better.

Car Seat Milestones: No Need to Rush

According to Webster's Dictionary, a milestone is “a significant point in development.”  That development can be career-based, emotional, educational,  spiritual, or one of many other categories.

When it comes to car seats though, physical milestones are the type often rushed.  I heard again this past weekend, “My baby’s a year old now and 20 pounds so he needs to be forward-facing.”  No, he doesn’t, one year and 20 pounds is a minimum. 

The seat in question had a 35lb. rear-facing weight limit, but the parent insisted that the child had to be turned forward-facing.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends four steps for kids:

• Rear-facing seats:  For the best possible protection keep infants in the back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible up to the height or weight limit of the particular seat. At a minimum, keep infants rear-facing until a minimum of age 1 and at least 20 pounds.
• Forward-facing seats:  When children outgrow their rear-facing seats (at a minimum age 1 and at least 20 pounds) they should ride in forward-facing child safety seats, in the back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat.
• Booster Seats:  Once children outgrow their forward-facing seats, they should ride in booster seats, in the back seat, until the vehicle seat belts fit properly.  Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall).
• Seat belts:  When children outgrow their booster seats, (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall) they can use the adult seat belt in the back seat, if it fits properly (lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest).

Each of these four steps is a milestone in a child’s development, but it can also mean diminished safety if that milestone is rushed.  Keep your kids in each of the four steps as long as possible and don’t rush to the next one.  Treat it as a marathon from birth to adult seat belts, not as a series of sprints from one milestone to the next.

"Boost Clues" (Booster Seat Questions Answered)

“My child is 8 years old so Illinois law says he doesn’t need a child seat any more, right?”  Yes, that’s right but he may still need a booster seat to be safe.  Generally the law that requires a child seat until age eight is a good one.  Specifically, it may not go far enough to protect your child.

Kids come in all shapes and sizes, and like strollers, bicycles, and clothes, they fit safety belts differently.  While many children may be large enough to fit into an adult safety belt at age eight, many are not.  The only way to know for sure is to try it.  Older kids can use the adult seat belt in the back seat, if it fits properly.  If it doesn’t, they should remain in a booster seat.

In order to correctly fit in a safety belt, a child must:
• be tall enough to sit without slouching
• keep his/her back against the vehicle seat back
• keep his/her knees completely bent over the edge of
   the vehicle seat
• keep his/her feet flat on the floor of the vehicle
• be able to stay comfortably seated this way
• keep the lap belt low and snug across his/her upper
   thighs/lower hips

Never put the shoulder belt under your child’s arm or behind your child’s back. This can cause severe injuries in a crash. If the safety belt does not fit properly, the child should remain in a belt-positioning booster seat.

For your child’s safety, don’t be in a hurry to take them out of their booster seats.  Adult safety belts are designed for adults, not children.