Dangerous Mistake Parents are Making with Car Seats
Parents are unwittingly putting their children in danger with this one simple car seat mistake. Safety experts have issued a warning after coming across families who have made the simple error. Mums, dads and grandparents have been known to wedge the top of a car seat under one of the car’s head restraints – mistakenly thinking this will make it more secure and therefore safer. Leyland-based Child Seat Safety Ltd is warning drivers that, should a child shoot forward in a crash, the seat needs to go with them. Wedging it in place could prevent that from happening – and create more of a risk to the child. In a tweet to its followers the group said, “Don’t wedge a car seat under a vehicle head restraint. Why? In the event of a collision, the child will be propelled forward. “The seat needs to go with them, to protect them. If it’s wedged in, the child will move forward without protection.” Julie Dagnall, director of Child Seat Safety Limited, said, “We check thousands of child car seats on an annual basis and one of the most common mistakes is that parents leave the head restraint in, which pushes the seat forward, or they use it to help hold the seat in place, which in fact stops the seat from working properly in a collision. “Remember not all car seats fit all cars so check your car handbook on how to adjust or remove your head restraint and find out what the car seat manufacturer recommends for the restraint you are using. Remember not all car seats fit all cars.” New rules stopping younger children using backless booster seats were introduced early last year. Those continuing to use backless booster seats for smaller kids won’t face any action or fine, but labelling on new seats now makes it clear that backless ones will only be approved for use for children taller than 125cm and weighing more than 22kg. The older backless seats state that they are appropriate for children weighing as little as 15kg, or around three years old, but experts say that’s not the safest option.
