Infant Car Seat Safety

A properly installed car seat can reduce the risk of serious injury or death by as much as 71 per cent in Canadian. Car seat clinics indicate that as many as 80 per cent of car seats are installed improperly. Common errors include not tightening the seatbelt and harness enough, and not properly using a tether strap when required. Make sure your child is safe and secure, and is buckled up right. Children under 13 years of age are safest in the back seat away from all active air bags. By law, drivers are responsible for ensuring passengers under 16 years of age are secured properly. It is mandatory for anyone transporting children to make sure they are properly secured in a child car seat or booster seat. This applies to all caregivers, from babysitters to grandparents.

In a licensed taxi or licensed hire car, if a child restraint is not available then the child may travel unrestrained in the rear. This is the only exemption, and has been introduced for practical rather than safety reasons. You should always think about ways to make sure that a child seat is available.

 It is the driver’s legal responsibility to ensure that the child is correctly restrained.

 

Travelling as a passenger in a car is one of the main ways that children under 11 years old get about. Most of their journeys are completed safely. Unfortunately, some are not.

 

When cars crash, the speeds involved usually mean severe impacts, which all too often cause death and injury to people inside and outside the car.

 

Every year, around 30 children between the ages of 0 and 11 years are killed while travelling in cars, about 400 are seriously injured and over 7,000 slightly injured. The proper use of child car restraints would prevent many of these deaths and injuries.

 

In a 30 mph crash, an unrestrained child would be thrown forward with a force 30 to 60 times their body weight. They would be thrown about inside the vehicle, injuring themselves and quite possibly seriously inuring (or even killing) anyone else inside the vehicle. They are also likely to be ejected from the car through one of the windows.

 

The safest way for children to travel in cars is to use a child seat that is suitable for their weight and size. A properly fitted child restraint keeps the child in their seat, preventing them from being thrown about inside or ejected from the vehicle. This reduces the likelihood of your child being killed or injured in a crash. There’s no avoiding this purchase when you have a new baby in your life — Car seat are a vital safety device. In fact, you cannot take your baby home from the hospital if you do not own a car seat (unless you’re planning to take the subway or train). Car seat are meant to protect your infant and older child from harm. These devices also come in handy for keeping your child restrained in the car so that you can keep your eyes on the road. There are many types of car seats; each design is suitable for a specific weight and height range. Please check about Car Seats Buying Guide at ShopWiki.com