Which child safety seat is the right one for you?

By Stephanie D. Shaw

“Every 33 seconds a child is involved in a crash.”
“6 out of 10 car seats are installed improperly.”

For parents, these statistics might be terrifying and overwhelming. As a parent and volunteer child passenger safety technician, I take comfort in knowing that the best way to protect my own children is the proper use of age-appropriate child safety seats and booster seats. But with so many messages out there—and maybe not the same technical background or experience—how do you know if you’re making the right decisions for your children?

Today, I wanted to share the answers to some of the questions I’ve gotten from parents and caregivers.

Q. When is my child old enough to sit up front with me?

A. Until they properly fit an adult seat belt, they should always ride in the back seat, and they should always use the right child safety seat or booster seat! But different-size children need to be protected differently – read on.

Q. Which child car seat is the safest?

A. All child car seats must meet the same federal safety standards. But car seat designs vary. That’s why it is critical that you look for a seat that is recommended for your child’s height and weight.

Q. So just buy the right car seat?

A. Not so fast. Buying the right seat for your child is the first step. But, it still falls on the adult to install and use the car seat properly every time.

Q. How do I install and use a child safety seat?

A. Read carefully and follow the instructions that came with your car seat and also your vehicle owner’s manual. It’s important to read both, as they provide steps for how and where to install the seat in your vehicle. All children should ride properly secured in a car seat or booster seat in the back seat. If you would like help installing your seat, visit Safe Kids Worldwide to locate a child passenger safety technician in your area.

Q. When do you change from rear-facing to forward-facing seats?

A. Children under the age of 2 are best protected when they are in a rear-facing car seat in the back seat, as their spine and neck are not developed enough to support their head in the event of a crash. Even for children older than age 2, it’s recommended that they remain rear facing until they outgrow the rear-facing height or weight limit for their seat. When children outgrow a rear-facing car seat, they should use a forward-facing car seat with an internal harness and tether.

Q. When is my child ready to ride like an adult passenger?

A. Not until the adult seat belt fits them properly – usually when they are 4’9” tall. Until then, they should use a booster seat. Booster seats help children fit in an adult seat belt. Children seated in a booster seat in the back seat of the car are 45 percent less likely to be injured in a crash than children using a seat belt alone.

Q. How can you tell when an adult seat belt fits them properly?

A. seat belt fits properly when the lap belt lies snugly across the upper thighs, not the stomach. The shoulder belt should lie snugly across the shoulder and chest, and not cross the neck or face.

Q. What are the common mistakes to look out for in using the car seat?

A. Some common mistakes parents and caregivers make include:

• using a forward-facing child car seat too soon;
• installing the car seat too loosely and allowing the seat to move more than one inch at the belt path;
• allowing the harness straps to fit loosely so they fail the pinch test; and
• placing the chest clip too low, rather than at armpit level.

To help avoid some of these common mistakes, read the instructions that came with your car seat and also your vehicle owner’s manual. Reading these instructions will help you determine whether to use a seat belt or the lower anchors, and when to use the tether to secure your seat.

Your car seat instructions will help you position the car seat (rear facing, forward facing, or reclined); properly use the internal harness, chest-clip and buckle; and determine how best they should fit to protect your child.

Q. Can I get hands-on help?

A. You’re in luck! It’s Child Passenger Safety Week. Child passenger safety technicians and other safety professionals will host events nationwide, where parents and caregivers can get hands-on help to ensure their child is in the most appropriate car seat, installed and being used properly. (Such help is also available year-round.)

Car seats, booster seats, and seat belts are a child’s best defense against injury and death in the event of a motor vehicle crash. As a parent and a technician myself, I encourage you to find a car seat check event or child passenger safety technician in your area to make sure you’re using the right seat, every trip, every time.

Saturday, September 24, is National Seat Check Saturday. To find an event in your community, visit www.safercar.gov.

Stephanie Shaw is a NTSB Safety Advocate in the Office of Safety Recommendations and Communications.

Just the Facts

By Sharon Bryson

The NTSB is an independent federal agency charged with improving transportation safety, and a significant part of that mission is accomplished by investigating every civil aviation accident and significant accidents in other modes of transportation. Fast approaching its 50 anniversary, this small agency takes pride in its independence, transparency, and collaborative approach to accident investigations. As a key measure of our effectiveness, we maintain strong working relationship with all transportation stakeholders. We work hard to build and maintain the trust and confidence of those stakeholders while we carefully, thoroughly and independently gather all the facts surrounding an accident to maintain credibility with the public.

You may have had the opportunity to view the recently released movie about the Jan. 15, 2009, US Airways flight 1549, ditching on the Hudson River.  (NTSB report title: “Loss of Thrust in Both Engines After Encountering a Flock of Birds and Subsequent Ditching on the Hudson River”). As an employee of the National Transportation Safety Board I can appreciate the movie’s treatment of the ditching of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 – it’s certainly a movie-worthy moment in aviation history. However, the movie is a fictionalized version of the NTSB’s investigation of the accident, and as such, it portrays the NTSB as the antagonist. That’s unfortunate because it misrepresents the purpose of our investigation and in doing so, undermines the important safety lessons learned and recommendations that we issued.

The purpose of the investigation was to gather the facts surrounding the accident, understand what happened, and make recommendations to prevent recurrence and improve aviation safety. Thankfully, this accident had a successful outcome because of the performance of a very skilled crew and the exceptional rescue efforts by many that day. As good as the outcome was, the NTSB knew there was much to learn from the accident, as there is in every accident we investigate.

The ditching of US Airways flight 1549 presented the NTSB with one of the best moments to learn ‘the facts’ and recommend improvements to reduce future accidents because everyone survived – and isn’t that the best time and the best way to improve safety?

The NTSB issued its report May 4, 2010, along with 35 safety recommendations designed to keep you and your loved ones safer.

The facts of this investigation, including the final accident report, related safety recommendations, a webcast (and associated transcript) of the June 2009 three–day investigative hearing, nearly 4000 pages of investigative materials from the accident docket, and an accident animation, are publicly available on the NTSB’s web page for the accident so you can too, get the facts.

Sharon Bryson is the Director of the NTSB’s Office of Safety Recommendations and Communications.