How Can I Make Sure a Child Car Seat Is Installed Correctly?

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death in the U.S. for children between the ages of 3 and 14 years old. Statistics collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that 663 children 12 years old and younger died in car accidents during 2015. In 2014, 121,350 children suffered injuries during car accidents. However, the CDC also claims that you may improve your child’s safety during a car crash by using safety seats correctly. According to a study cited by the CDC, states with strict child car seat laws have lower rates of children who suffer catastrophic injuries or death during car accidents.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has published several recommendations that can improve the effectiveness of child car seats. These recommendations may include:

• Choosing the right seat: There are different types of seats that should be used depending on your child’s age and size. Rear-facing car seats are made for newborns and small babies. On the other hand, forward-facing seats with harnesses are made for children between the ages of 2 and 5 years old. Booster seats should be used by children until they can wear normal seatbelts. NHTSA has published a chart that can help you select the correct car seat.
• Installing the seat correctly: If you are not already familiar with child safety seats, then it is best to have a professional perform the installation. NHTSA has a web tool that allows you to find and select locations that will install your child’s safety seat. Type in your zip code and it may display several results, such as fire stations and offices operated by the Texas Department of Transportation. You can also use these services to perform an inspection on your child’s car seat. Call beforehand to make sure these locations still offer services.

Can Child Car Seats Cause Injuries?

Your child could still suffer catastrophic injuries or wrongful death even if you select the right car seat and perform the installation correctly. In some cases, your child’s car seat may contain manufacturing or design defects. For example, Graco issued a recall for 25,000 “My Ride 65” car seats sold during the summer of 2014. Recalls for child car seats are not a rare occurrence.You can use NHTSA’s website to check if your child’s car seat is under recall. The best way to do this is to register the car seat with your manufacturer and to sign up for recall notices from NHTSA. This will allow you to receive recall notices from both NHTSA and the seat’s manufacturer.If your child was harmed while using a safety seat, then it is important to discuss legal options with a product liability attorney. Depending on the circumstances, it may be possible to secure damages from the manufacturer or other parties. This could help pay for expenses that include medical bills, rehabilitation expenses, and pain and suffering.The Texas product liability attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC are dedicated to fighting against negligent business practices that harm innocent people. If your child was harmed by a defective car seat, then our attorneys can help determine whether you have legal options for damages.

How Child Safety Seats Can Protect Your Children

Did you know that car accidents are the number one cause of death among children in the U.S.? According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), car accidents cost 638 children their lives in 2013. This depressing statistic is a reminder that it is extremely important to ensure your children are safe while driving. Parents can reduce the chances of death or serious injury by using child safety seats.CDC statistics show that child safety seat use reduces the risk of death for children under one years old by 71 percent. For children aged 1 to 4, the risk of death is decreased by 54 percent. Booster seats are also useful for preventing injuries. CDC statistics show booster seats reduce the risk of catastrophic injuries by 45 percent among children ages 4 to 8 years old.Although child safety seats are effective at reducing injuries and deaths, there are ways to use these seats incorrectly. According to the CDC, 59 percent of car seats and 20 percent of booster seats are used incorrectly, reducing their effectiveness in the event of an accident.

These Child Safety Seat Tips May Help Protect Your Children

The following tips from Safe Kids Worldwide and the CDC can help make child safety seats more effective.

• Always ensure that the seat you are using is appropriate for your child’s age, weight and height. Check the label on the child safety seat to verify this information.

• Ensure the child safety seat is not past its expiration date. This information can also be found on the label.

• Never buy used child safety seats. Even if you know the person you are buying from, it can be difficult or impossible to know the seat’s crash history.

• Make sure your child is facing the right direction. Keep children two years old and under in rear-facing car seats. When your child is old enough, move them to a forward-facing car seat.

• Perform the inch test. After installing the car seat, see if you can move it side-to-side or back to back more than one inch. If you can, the seat has not been installed properly.

• Make sure the harnesses are tight and coming from the correct slots. You should not be able to pinch any excess webbing past shoulder level.

• If there is one safety tip to pay attention to on today’s blog, it is making sure your child’s safety seat is properly installed. The majority of safety seats are not properly installed and could malfunction during accidents. Police and fire departments will sometimes perform safety checks on seats at no cost. In addition, the Texas Department of Transportation offers similar services at its offices.

Remember to Check for Child Safety Seat Recalls

We encourage parents to revisit a past blog post on how to check for child safety seat recalls. In some cases, child safety seats have serious defects. For future updates on child safety seat tips and recalls, continue following our blog.

Is Your Child Safety Seat Defective?

Child safety seats have been marketed as products that can prevent injuries or deaths in the event of an accident. Unfortunately, we have troubling news for parents who use these products.Some child seats are not as safe as parents assume and many have been recalled for defects. If you use child safety seats, we encourage you to continue reading so you can be informed on how to protect your children. Finding information on recalls is a simple process due to laws on reporting defects.Once defects have been identified by manufacturers, they are required under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act to inform the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) within five days so a recall can be issued. However, there are cases where manufacturers have been untimely in reporting recalls. In 2014, Graco recalled six million defective child safety seats over a defect that posed a risk to the safety of children.Graco’s defect was horrifying because it was exceptionally difficult for parents to spot. If children were to spill sticky drinks or food onto the harness buckles, the seats could fail to open during an emergency. All parents know that children are messy eaters, and many were put at risk by Graco’s safety seats.If an accident were to occur and the harness became stuck, it would be extremely difficult to remove a child from the vehicle. This means if a vehicle caught fire after an accident, a parent might be unable to remove his or her child from the safety seat. A NHTSA investigation revealed Graco had been untimely in reporting the defect and ordered the company to pay a $10 million fine.

Checking for Child Safety Seat Recalls is Easy

If you have children and use safety seats while driving, it is highly recommended that you regularly check for recall information. In addition to recall information, you can also access complaints from other consumers and investigations involving manufacturers. NHTSA operates www.safercar.gov, a website where parents can receive expedient information on child seat recalls and investigations.After arriving at the website, simply select the manufacturer of the safety seat you wish to check for defects and the model number. For example, if we enter safety seats made by Graco and the model number or make (Cozy Cline in this case), we receive a list of recalls, investigations, complaints and messages from the manufacturer.In this case, Graco’s Cozy Cline seat has been the subject of one recall and four investigations. Search results also display why the seat has been recalled and information on prior or existing investigations.Future blog updates will go into more detail on previous lawsuits and cases involving child safety seats, so we encourage you to follow us on Twitter.The product liability lawyers at Mike Love & Associates, LLC can assist families who have been harmed by negligent companies.