Mistakes That Parents, Caregivers Make When Dealing with Child Safety Seats

The use of safety devices for children is one of the most basic driving laws in the U.S. As it is, every parent, caregiver, or any supervising adult must be aware of the right restraint for his or her child relative to the latter’s age and size. More importantly, children must be seated at back of the car.

Basically, California law dictates that children under the age of 8 must be secured in a car seat or booster seat in the back seat of the vehicle. If they are under 8 years old but are 4’9” or taller, they may be secured by a safety, still in the back seat of the vehicle. When they reach 8 years old and over, they must be secured with a child passenger restraint system or safety belt.

Indeed, there is no doubt that when it comes to crashes, children today are a lot safer now, and that is thanks to the implementation of child safety seat laws. In fact, since 1975, the rate at which children die as passenger vehicle occupants has significantly declined by 59 percent. Despite this, there are still a lot of vehicle crashes which involved children who are either seriously injured or killed.

One factor as to why they happen is due to the mistakes that parents, caregivers, and supervising adults make when dealing with child safety devices. Some of these mistakes may seem irrelevant, but then, even the smallest of errors can result in serious consequences, rendering such devices as ineffective if not installed and secured on a child completely.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), one of its surveys revealed that one in five parents, caregivers, or any supervising adults fail to read the instruction manuals that come with the child safety devices. Aside from this, here’s a list of some of the other mistakes, as detailed by the AAA:

•    Moving a child out of a booster seat to the safety belt before he or she reaches the age wherein he or she is allowed to wear a seat belt.

•    Adding toys, padding or mirrors to a child or booster seat.

•    Having a child wear coats or sweaters while secured in a car seat.

•    Loose harness straps.

•    Retainer clip too low.

•    Loosely installing the car seat.

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer always tell drivers to exercise safety at all times, especially when they carry children as passengers inside their vehicles. Aside from making sure that they drive with ease, the attorney also reminds them to avoid the abovementioned mistakes, ensuring that their children are secured in their appropriate child safety devices so that they may prevent any injuries.