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Four out of five car seats are installed incorrectly By DAWN SLADE Think your child is safe in your vehicle? You may want to check again. Four out of five car seats are used incorrectly, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safetyís Office of Traffic Safety. Thatís why the Mille Lacs County Times is hosting a car seat safety clinic Saturday, Feb. 22 in Milaca. Area businesses and individuals, along with certified car seat checkers, are donating time and money to ensure children are safe in vehicles. The safety belt law in Minnesota states that children under four years old are required to be fastened in a child safety seat that meets federal safety standards. Children four to 11 years of age must be buckled up while in a vehicle, regardless of where they are seated. But the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety also recommends that children ride in child safety seats as long as possible, ideally until the age of eight. Rear-facing seats are for newborns, until a child is one year old and reaches 20 pounds in weight. The car seat should recline at a 45 degree angle. There are several rear-facing seats on the market to accommodate bigger babies. Forward facing seats, with a harness, are used for one to four-year-olds. Booster seats are used for children who have outgrown a a convertible or child-only seat. The booster seat keeps the lap belt positioned properly around a childís hips and the shoulder belt in the correct position. A booster seat for bigger kids also provides a better view for children, which helps prevent the child from leaning forward. Once the child is 80 pounds or 8 years old, they are ready for the adult safety belt. Statistics show that if parents are not buckled up, 70 percent of their children are not in safety belts either. Without a safety belt, the impact of a 35 mph crash is the equivalent of falling head-first from a third-story window. In a 30 mph crash, a 10-pound baby could be ripped from a belted adultís arms with a force of over 300 pounds and hurled into the dashboard. All children under age 13 should ride in the back seat of a vehicle. While airbags have saved lives, theyíve also done some damage. Because airbags deploy at rapid speeds, their force can injure or even kill a person who is sitting too close to it. Drivers should be a minimum of ten inches away from the steering wheel and children under 13 should never ride in the front seat of a car equipped with an airbag. Pregnant women often worry about wearing a seat belt. However, the biggest risk to an unborn baby is injury to the mother. Pregnant women should wear the lap belt under the stomach, as low on the hips as possible, while the shoulder belt should rest between the breasts. On a typical Minnesota day, over 130 people are injured in traffic accidents - thatís one every 11 minutes. Wearing a safety belt reduces the risk of injury in a car crash by 50 percent - 65 percent in a pickup crash. Read and follow the car seat manufacturerís instructions carefully, as well as the vehicle ownerís manual. If a car seat has ever been involved in a crash, it should be replaced - most insurance companies will cover the cost of replacement. Use only car seats with labels stating they meet federal safety standards. Register the car seat with the manufacturer so you can be notified in case there is a recall. Car seats that are more than six years old should be replaced as the plastic may have weakened. It is also recommended that car seats should be purchased new rather than used from a garage sale or store, as the history of the car seat is unknown. Do not place the shoulder portion of a seat belt under the arm or behind the back of the child. This is a very common mistake. As of Sept. 1, 2002 child car seat and automobile manufacturers are required to have a new child safety seat installation system. The system, lower anchors and tethers for children (LATCH), will be on all child safety seats and in two of the three rear seating positions of automobiles. The LATCH system is designed to make it easier to install child safety seats without using the vehicleís belt system. Attachments on LATCH-equipped child seats fasten to anchors in LATCH-equipped vehicles. Most vehicles, however, currently donít have the LATCH system and owners should continue to use the current belt system to install the child safety seat. For more information on car seats, contact the Minnesota Child Passenger Safety Program at 1-800-818-9262 or visit the website at: www.buckleupkids.state.mn.us. To have your car seat(s) checked for proper installation by a trained checker, contact Dawn Slade at the Times office at 320-983-6111 or email at: dawn.slade@ecm-inc.com
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