Report: Most Parents Still Not Using Child Safety Seats Correctly
DETROIT (WWJ) Is your child's car safety seat installed properly? If the answer is "yes" that puts you in the minority -- because according to a new report from the General Motors Foundation and Safe Kids Worldwide, 73 percent of car seats are being incorrectly used.
Kate Carr, president and CEO of Safe Kids, told WWJ that while great strides have been made in ensuring almost every infant rides in a car seat, parents are still making too many mistakes that could put their child's life in danger on the road.
"The instructions can be confusing and you have to match the right car seat to your vehicle," Carr said. "So we've found five common mistakes. But they're fixable to allow parents to do an at-home check to make sure they have that car seat safely tucked into that car."
Carr said there are five things parents should check to make sure their children are riding safely in their car seats:
- Right Seat: Make sure you have the right car seat for your child's age and weight.
- Right Place: Always make sure your child rides in the back seat.
- Right Direction: Keep your child in a rear-facing seat for as long as possible.
- Inch Test: Check to make sure the seat can not be moved from than inch from side to side or front to back
- Pinch Test: Make sure the harness is tightly buckled. And if you are unable to pinch any excess webbing on the strap, you're good to go.
To be sure you're in compliance, have your car seat inspected at one of more than 500 car seat inspection events across the country through September. Get details about the car seat inspection stations at www.safekids.org.
