SAFETY SQUAD: Empowing Your Family

Dog Restraints Protect Humans, Then Dogs

This week two people died in a Wisconsin Car crash after a dog jumped into the drivers lap. This was avoidable, that's why we don't call them "crashes", not "accidents".  Read Article

This is our post from May 2008.

The purpose of a dog restraint is to protect the humans in the car from flying dogs. It may seem strange, but any loose item in the car can become a projectile in a crash. This includes unbuckled people and dogs, not to mention all of the items you need just to get the kids out of the house (stroller, diaper bag, etc.).

Yes, seatbelts can save the dog’s life, too. But keeping Fido from flying around in a crash is going to benefit the human occupants the most. Invest in a dog restraint and maybe even a cargo net to keep all of those loose items in the car from flying around during a crash. For more information: Check out this Consumer Reports article.

I'm falling...

According to the most recent report from the Consumer Products Safety Commission,"falls related to nursery products are a leading cause of injury or death for children from birth to age 5".  In 2006 there were 66,400 emergency room admissions for nursery product fall-related accidents.  The head was the most frequently injured body part in all of the injuries.

The top offenders are:

• Infant carriers (excluding motor vehicle collisions): 14,200 ER admissions
• Cribs: 11,300 ER admissions
• Strollers: 11,100 ER admissions
• High Chairs: 9,900 ER admissions

The primary thing parents can do to protect their child is to educate themselves on the proper and safe use of nursery products. Do not use products in ways that they are not intended to be used. Additionally, never use broken or defective equipment or items that have been recalled.

Why do they sell bumper pads if I’m not supposed to use them?

The simple answer….because we keep buying them. Believe it or not, there is very little legislation that addresses the type of products that can be sold and advertised as “baby products”.  Welcome to the overwhelming world of baby gear – there a lot of products that you will not need.  Some of them helpful, others that are innocuous, some that can be harmful.

Bumper pads no longer have a function in today’s contemporary world of “safety approved” cribs.  Bumper pads were used to prevent baby from escaping through the crib bars, or entrapping a body part between the rails. All newly manufactured cribs have to have corner posts, slats, spindles, or rails that are not more than 2 3/8 inches apart. (Download Federal crib regulations 2001 ) This concept of preventing “escape” or “entrapment” is no longer an issue.
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A Unified Car Seat Message: Our Mission

One of the reasons we created Safety Squad was to create an independent voice for parents. We sit in a position to see all facets of the industry and form opinions free of influence. Our only loyalty is to parents. We give them a birds eye view, so that they can make informed decisions regarding safety for their family. This is the first in a series of comments on unifying the car seat message.

Before we talk about what is being said, we must first identify who is talking.
In no particular order:

• NHTSA (National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration)
• Safe Kids (Local, National, Worldwide)
• State legislators (Individual State law)
• Car Seat Manufacturers
• Retailers
• Vehicle Manufacturers
• Public Safety Agencies
• Watchdog Groups
• Non-Profits
• Individual CPS Techs
• JPMA (Juvenile Product Manufactures Association)
• Researchers (Consumer Reports, etc)
• Hospitals and Medical Associations (Specializing in Child Safety)
• Media
• Parents (Forums, Blogs, Websites)

Everyone has their own message. Some are similar, while others are quite different. Either way, the end product is a confusing and conflicted message about how parents should address car seats. It is our mission to create unified message, while allowing individual opinion and enterprise.

Chicco Key Fit: You can tell a CPS tech designed it.

If you read this blog, then you know that we call companies out when something's wrong, but we also praise those that care to "get it right".

While we don't endorse seats or take sponsorship from any particular manufacturer, we do have our favorites. One of our favorite infant seats is the Chicco Key Fit 30. The Key Fit 30 is a top-rated seat, but ratings often don't translate to actual ease of use or convenience for parents. In this case, they do!

Everything about the seat is thoughtful. While no seat installs itself, and everyone should seek out a CPS tech for assistance, this seat gives parents a fighting chance. We'll break down this seat into areas that relate to misuse of seats, in general....

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...

It's for Turbulence, not the Crash!

On our trip out to Portland for the Lifesavers 2008 conference, we were surrounded by parents and kids. I was ready with my Bose noise canceling headphones, but alas.. no need. These kids were pretty well behaved. Two infants, two toddlers, one four year old, but no seats.   

We asked the flight attendant for a completely unscientific estimate of how many infants travel in seats on her flights. She guessed about 5%. Based on her rock solid numbers, we thought 95% non-use was worth a post. Let's cut to the chase.

Here are the most commonly cited reasons for not using a seat on the plane:

1. Too expensive to buy extra seat or two (most airlines don't give discounts for an extra seat)...

Be careful on parenting forums

We like to read parenting forums to see what parents are saying about car seats.  Forums are a tremendous resource for parenting information, but when it comes to car seats... forums can sometimes be misleading.

Recently, we found a discussion about expiration dates that referenced an entry on our site.  The original poster in the discussion rightly tried to raise awareness of the expiration date issue and pointed readers in the right direction for correct information.

In the next comment, a different poster said that her specific car seat was manufactured at a certain date and was good for 10 years.  She then said

Why is installation so hard?

Before you bought your car seat, you checked with friends, family, searched the web and decided on a seat that had great reviews and even scored well on the "Ease of Use" charts. There were so many choices, but you picked a Graco or Britax or maybe a Peg Perego, to name a few. So why after all that research is your car seat so hard to use?

The same is true when you bought your car or SUV. Saab, BMW, Lexus, Honda, Mercedes, Toyota and others score well in crash ratings and come packed with dozens of safety features, but when you try to install that great car seat into your great car it doesn't feel or fit right.

First of all, it's not you. You are a parent that has cared...

Latch Error: Installing in the middle position

Parents usually know two things about car seat installation:
1. The middle position in the back seat is safer than the window seats.
2. LATCH installation is supposed to be easier than seat belt installation.

The first statement is true, the second can be true, but regardless most often parents naturally attempt to install their child's car seat using the LATCH anchors in the middle position. This is a logical decision, except that most vehicles don't provide middle position LATCH anchors. In fact, parents are using the inside anchors of the window seat LATCH anchors.

We know... it doesn't seem to make sense. If vehicle manufacturers are required to provide two sets of anchors, why not install one set in the middle?  One reason may be that installing two car seats side-by-side using LATCH can be difficult (one middle, one, window). Regardless, the issue remains.

We find that about 90% of vehicles don't have middle LATCH, but about 50% of parents who use LATCH attempt to use LATCH this way. How do you know if you have middle LATCH? Look in your vehicle owners manual. If you can't figure it out, please seek out a CPS Technician.  Good luck.