Make Sure Kids are Safely Buckled Up
October 17, 2005 | First Aid and Safety
When can a child wear a seatbelt and still not be safe in a car? When they’re still young and not using a booster seat. Many parents in Washington state are making this mistake.
Eight-year-old Tess Hansen sits in a booster seat every time she rides in a car. So does her younger sister. But she knows plenty of kids her age who have given up the seat.
Sixty-five percent of Washington state kids over 40 pounds, who should be in booster seats are not in them. These are children under 4’ 9”.
Car crashes are the leading cause of injury and death to children in Washington state; nearly half of them are due to a lack of child-safety seat or seatbelt.
National and state data show that while use of car seats continues to increase, many seats are not installed or used correctly. The car-seat checks are staffed with trained technicians who teach parents and caregivers how to install and use their child’s car seat correctly.
State law will change in 2007 and make booster seats mandatory for these kids, but child safety experts say parents should not wait until then.
“They just sit there in the car, they lift up the child so the seat belt will fit properly. that way the lap belt goes over the legs and not the soft belly where in a crash the bowels rupture like a balloon,” said Dr. Beth Ebel of the Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center and a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital.
Booster seats are easy to install and much easier than infant car seats.
The major safety problem for infants is that their seats are often not installed properly or the harness is not snug enough.
“It was hard for us as new parents to find good information on whether it was checked properly,” said Stephen Halsey, a new parent. “I was in the truck trying to tighten it down and it was very difficult.”
A free car seat check, offered by Seattle Children’s Hospital, is a great way to make sure your child is in the right seat and that the seat is locked down correctly.
When it comes to moving up to a new seat or to the back seat, make sure your child meets both weight and height recommendations.
Seattle’s Children’s Hospital will offer another car seat check next Saturday at the hospital. There is no cost and no appointment necessary.
Also, monthly car-seat and booster-seat safety checks will soon be offered to families in the Rainier Valley area of Seattle.
The car-seat checks will be offered the fourth Saturday of the month from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Safeway store located at 3820 Rainier Avenue South (at Charleston). The next car seat check is Saturday, Oct. 22.
The car-seat checks are sponsored by Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Seattle, in collaboration with the Washington State Safety Restraint Coalition and Safeway Stores. Seed money for the establishment of the car-seat checks in Rainier Valley came from State Farm Insurance.
For more information about car seats or booster seats call 1-800-BUCKLUP or see the above sites.