Safety for Our Most Precious -- Car Seats

[xcel]

It was a long time ago for me but for many here, it is a daily reality?

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Oct. 5, 2012

The right car seat.

Earlier this week I was speaking to Jennifer Geiger (A Lead Foot's Guide to Hypermiling), a new mom and news editor for Cars.com. We talked about the car seat additions that have been sneaking into their reviews as of late. Being a mom with a 2-year old, it was a natural fit for her. Dave Thomas, another Cars.com guy I follow is also a young father with the need for car seats so at least on that staff, car seats are in, they’re big and they are indeed not just mandatory but needed.

Here at CleanMPG, Andrew (PaleMelanesian) and Sean (Right Lane Cruiser) both have two with IIRC, another on the way in Andrew’s case.

While those of us out of the loop do not give a second thought to child safety seats in our day to day travails, those that do have to place more importance on this single must have safety feature than the rest of us do on NHTSA crash test ratings, fuel economy technology, alternate fuels and how to emit less as we drive and post on a daily basis.

Car crashes are the number one killer of children 1 to 12 years old in the United States and the best way to protect them in the car is to put them in the right seat, at the right time, and use it the right way.

There are so many car seat types and models, how do you know which one is right for your child? The right car seat or booster fits your child and your car, and is one you will use correctly every time you travel. Not only will your child ride as safely as possible, you will be establishing the foundation for a lifelong habit of seat belt use every time your child travels.

Make better-informed choices when choosing and using a car seat.

Nissan has a car seat story too.

Nissan opens its doors Oct. 5 to parents and caregivers in Middle Tennessee to offer safety tips and ensure proper installation of child safety restraint systems (CRS).

During the seat check clinic, the public is invited to have their child seats inspected by certified technicians, who will offer tips and step-by-step instructions for proper installation. The technicians, a group of 25 community responders including firefighters, police officers, and nurses, recently participated in a Nissan-hosted Child Passenger Safety Technician course to earn national certification. The event represents the commitment Nissan made a decade ago to safeguard the safety of its youngest passengers with the inception of its “Snug Kids” program.

According to Nissan, their Snug Kids program is an industry-first geared specifically toward our children’s safety in a child restraint. Not all child seats fit in all vehicles. Nissan safety engineers have spent thousands of hours evaluating hundreds of child safety seats by installing them in all the rear seats of current Nissan and Infiniti vehicles. The result is the Snug Kids Child Safety Seat Fit Guide, which helps parents confidently select a child safety seat that fits their vehicle while also providing valuable tips on the proper fit of the seat.

Bob Yakushi, Director, Product Safety, Nissan North America:

"Ten years after pioneering the child safety seat fit program, Snug Kids, Nissan continues to make equipping parents and caregivers with the knowledge they need to properly secure a safety seat a priority. Child safety seat systems save lives and should provide peace of mind and not be a source of frustration."

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the use of child restraint systems has been shown to reduce traffic fatalities by 71 percent in infants and 54 percent in toddlers. Yet, in order to be effective, child restraint systems have to be installed correctly and fit properly within the vehicle.

Just two weeks ago, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland and Safe Kids President and CEO Kate Carr kicked off “Child Passenger Safety Week” to remind parents and caregivers to make sure that they are properly using and installing their child safety seats.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) survey showed that parents are making five critical mistakes when using car seats and booster seats. It also found that one in five parents do not read any instructions when installing seats.

• Wrong harness slot used - The harness straps used to hold the child in the car seat was positioned either too low or too high.
  
  
• Harness chest clip positioned over the abdomen rather than the chest or not used at all.
  
  
• Loose car seat installation - The restraint system moved more than two inches side-to-side or front to back; anything more than one inch is too much.
  
  
• Loose harness - More than two inches of total slack between the child and the harness strap; there should be no slack.
  
  
• Seat belt placement was wrong – Lap belt resting over the stomach and/or shoulder belt on the child's neck or face.

The survey also revealed that 20 percent of all drivers of child passengers did not read any instructions on how to properly install their child restraints, yet 90 percent felt 'confident' or 'very confident' that their car seats and booster seats were installed correctly.

More information about Snug Kids, upcoming events, or a download of the Child Safety Seat Fit Guide, can be found online at Nissan Snug Kids.

[PaleMelanesian]

A little behind the times, Wayne. My third is 1.5 years old now. We are definitely on the mark keeping his buckle up on the chest instead of on his belly, otherwise he will slither himself free out the top!

There's a fuel economy side to this story as well. Three seats will not fit in the back seat of my Civic. I hear there are certain models that may allow this, but they are very expensive. The seats I have would overlap by about 6 inches. That means any time the whole family goes anywhere, the Civic sits while the Odyssey guzzles gas. How many other families are in similar situations, or choose to drive TWO guzzlers.

Oh, and many 5-seat cars only have two LATCH sets in the back, requiring the non-recommended seat belt installation for a third.

Side note: it's funny to hear obviously non-parent car reviewers talk about tiny back seats being "only for children". Sure, you could fit a child in there, but with a car seat they take up as much or more space than an adult.

[Die2self]

I hear you Andrew. This is why my wife and I had to move up form our 1993 nissan sentra 5sp when my wife was about to have our first child. The rear facing seats would not fit in the back of the sentra. So we got the 2003 HA 5sp. It can only have 2 car seats in the back as well. there is only about 6-7 inches left in the middle between them.
The reason is that the LATCH systms are moved toward the middle to give more crash cushon from the sides. Is it any wonder why parents choose thise large SUV's just so that getting car seats and children in out of the vehicle is easier.
Now that the oldest is out of his booster and his sister is in a booster, the car seat situataion is much different. Much more room for both in the back. But the booster seats take up quite a bit of room as well. However, in a squeeze you could move them out a little and squeeze some one in the back in the middle because they were not as fixed in location as the LATCH seats. There was even enough to squeeze someone in the middle of the back sit in the FIT with 2 booster seats. But with regular seat, not so much.

MO and AR car seat laws are abotu the same. My wife and I have followed the law to keep our children safe through all the stages of their growth. Her brother who lives in AR regular transported their daughter (4 month younger than our oldest) without a booster seat (just stop using one after the forward facing regular seat). She was much lighter and shorter then my son. It just made us kringe everytime we saw her not safetly in a booster car. She is big enough now like my son, but they just didn't see the need. Must be alot of that out there.

[PaleMelanesian]

Yeah, my eldest (7 yr) will be out of the booster soon (age 8 in TX). #2 is 4 and not quite ready for a backless booster - the belt goes high on his neck. I can't imagine how bad it'd be without the booster at all!

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

A little behind the times, Wayne. My third is 1.5 years old now. We are definitely on the mark keeping his buckle up on the chest instead of on his belly, otherwise he will slither himself free out the top!

There's a fuel economy side to this story as well. Three seats will not fit in the back seat of my Civic. I hear there are certain models that may allow this, but they are very expensive. The seats I have would overlap by about 6 inches. That means any time the whole family goes anywhere, the Civic sits while the Odyssey guzzles gas. How many other families are in similar situations, or choose to drive TWO guzzlers.

Oh, and many 5-seat cars only have two LATCH sets in the back, requiring the non-recommended seat belt installation for a third.

Side note: it's funny to hear obviously non-parent car reviewers talk about tiny back seats being "only for children". Sure, you could fit a child in there, but with a car seat they take up as much or more space than an adult.

Numbers crunched or it didn't happen! If you could at least break even with the Radians (the ones popular with fertile I think you mean) you could then hand them onto or show them to people to help them avoid the guzzler trap. Those seats can cost $300, but just 5,000 miles at 40mpg v 20mpg is $375 at $3/gal!

You Merkins is crazy!

[PaleMelanesian]

I occasionally do take 2 kids in the back seat. The remaining space will not fit any car seat available for any price. I'd have to replace all three, pushing the payback distance to 1500 miles. That's still reasonable, until you look at the replacement vehicle's purchase price. The most financially sound answer is to keep what we have until it must be replaced, and then get the best that will work at that time.

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Radians are what I've got in my LEAF and they work well. The Latch anchors are actually placed so that you can fit 3 seats, but they have to be the narrowest on the market.

Part of the reason the Radians are so expensive is a heavy steel frame and adjustable, close fitting head side protection. They are substantial and will definitely take a beating.

I'm studious about reading manuals and especially so when it comes to products for my children; there is nothing more important than their safety!!

[RedylC94]

Long, long ago, when I was a toddler, long before there were effective child safety seats (or ABS or disk brakes or padded dashes or even seat belts in most cars), my family visited my grandparents who lived 700 miles away. During an outing with them in our old car, my father drove, with my grandmother holding me in her lap on the other side of the front seat. When a careless driver turned in front of us, my father slammed on the brakes hard, causing me to slip out of her arms and bounce off the all-steel dash. (Even 1940s cars had 4-wheel hydraulic brakes, and could stop a lot shorter than ones of the 20s, fortunately.) According to legend perpetrated by my grandfather, I then looked accusingly at my grandmother and said "You pushed me!"

Considering the all-too-obvious physics of what can happen to a child in a collision or even hard braking, it's amazing that decent child seats didn't appear earlier than they did. Before they did, nearly worthless fake ones were sold for years.

[chilimac02]

The biggest reason for me getting my pilot was the ability to have 3 caraways in the back on the same row. My accord (01) will not allow it. Plus those baby seats that are rear facing have a hard time fitting in a seat behind a tall guy like me.