Safety officials urge parents to have children’s car seats checked

Monday, marks the start of National Child Passenger Safety Week. According to Safe Ride 4 Kid, a local organization dedicated to car safety for children, using a car seat incorrectly can put your child three times more likely in being seriously injured during a crash. During this time car safety technicians are urging parents to avoid making mistakes when it comes to the installation of their child’s seat and their overall safety.

Detective Joey Melvin , a trained car seat technician from the Georgetown Police Department  tells 47 ABC, a lot of mistakes start from not reading the manufacturer’s manual for the car and child’s car seat.

“We ask to see the owner’s manual because every owner’s manual gives guidelines on how the seats can be set up in there,”says Detective Melvin.

Detective Melvin tells 47 ABC every seat and manufacturer has a different weight and height limit  and it’s something parents should really pay attention to, he also adds that this can help parents avoid a really common mistake of switching from rear facing the rear to the front too early.

“It always seems to be rushed by parents, likely for convenience, but they don’t realize how much safer their children are rear facing,” says Detective Melvin.

Once they are in the correct car seat, Detective Melvin says make sure they are properly harnessed. One of rule of thumb he recommends  is having the harness lay like suspenders that are tight enough to allow one finger underneath. Also if folks are  debating if a child is ready to leave their booster seat behind, Melvin recommends checking where the seat belt hits.

“You can tell a child has been moved on too soon if that belt is cutting into their neck and that will not be efficient during a collision, because there is a good chance a child can slip out or cause more injuries,” says Detective Melvin.

To find car seat inspections near you click here.