Car seat safety was not even a thought until the year 1962 when 2 inventors invented the first car seat with that in mind. Even then car seats for children were not a requirement for all states until the year 1985. And even in 1987 only 80% of children would actually use a car seat! Comparing the child vehicle deaths from 1975 to 2019 it was 56% lower. It is no question that car seat safety has changed the way we are able to keep our little ones much more safe in our vehicles than ever before. But are we taking advantage of the safety precautions that have been placed before us? Here are 3 ways to incorporate car seat safety to avoid St. George car accident lawyer. 

Car Seat Expiration Dates

You better believe that even car seats have an expiration date. It is important to know that there are expiration dates on all of our car seats. Is it Illegal to use an Expired Car Seat? Check it out! The best thing to do is to ensure that we know at the time of purchase how long that specific car seat will last through the raising of our families. It is likely that the car seat will only last through a couple of children, but if you have children born closer together, you could potentially have 3 or 4 children using the same infant car seat. A typical car seat’s expiration date is 10 years at the date of manufacture. But if a car seat has been in a car wreck, it should be recycled at that point and made sure that it is never used again. 

Proper Car Seat Installation

As moms, we all understand the frustration that comes with installing car seats into our vehicles. There are many forms of available help in order to install car seats correctly if the extra help is needed. But as a basic rule, be sure that there is only 1 inch or less of movement of the entire car seat once installed. If you notice there is more movement than that, seek further help through YouTube tutorials or a simple Google search to ensure your child’s safety. Also, choose only one; the car’s seat belt OR the latch anchor installed in most newer vehicles. It is not commonly known that it is safer to use only one compared to using both. 

Less is More

While it is important to keep our kids warm through the winter, it is also important to keep them safe if a car accident were to occur. An easy way to ensure that is to make sure that children do not wear bulky items while strapped into their car seats. If a car accident were to occur, the bulkiness of the clothing is deceiving in that the impact would allow for any loose space to then allow for further danger to our children in being released from their car seat. Avoid it altogether by wrapping them in blankets or once buckled, placing their coat on them backwards as to cover their arms at the least. 

All in all, we do all we can to keep our children safe. It should be no different in making those same attempts when we are in our vehicles as often as we are.