Child safety seats when used incorrectly can harm your children. Although most parents worry most about having the seat installed correctly, using the seat outside of the recommendations of the manufacturer can also cause injury to your child in the event of a traffic accident.
The study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and titled Child Passenger Safety Practices in the US found that after children reached one year of age, many parents simply move the child to a forward-facing seat. Additionally, many children above the age of six are allowed to ride in the front seat of the car.
The study also found a correlation between adult seatbelt compliance and child car seat safety compliance. Parents who buckled up also buckled up their children.
At the Parker Law Firm law firm we know that the number one thing parents can do to keep their children safe while driving is to place them in a properly installed car safety seat used according to the maker’s instructions. Children need to be placed in rear-facing car seats until they reach two years of age or at least until they exceed the height and weight specifications for the seat. A child one year or older should not simply be turned around to a forward-facing seat until the height and weight milestones have been reached.
Parents may be overanxious to move their children from rear-facing seats to front-facing seats, and from booster seats to seatbelts, but rushing the process could have dire consequences if an accident occurs.
The next time you secure your child into a car seat, make sure you have carefully read the manufacturer’s safety instructions; it could save your child’s life.
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