Your child or infant car seat is installed properly, you check your tires, change your oil, but is your child really safe in the car? If you child is wearing a winter coat or snow suit in their car seat the answer is NO!
As a Massachusetts Personal Auto Insurance agent we want to help you protect your family. This is something that gets overlooked even by the most well intentioned parents. Putting your child into a car seat with a winter jacket can greatly increase their risk of injury in the event of an automobile accident. Loosening the straps of the car seat to make room for bulky winter wear decreases the effectiveness of the safety harness tremendously. It can even cause your child to be ejected from your vehicle during a crash. This was case last week in a Maine car accidient. A mother and child were involved in a crash, and the child was ejected out of the car seat, and from the vehicle, into a snow bank. The child miraculously survived the ordeal.
Being ejected is not the only danger of a loose car seat harness. Even during a minor car crash, bulky clothing will compress during impact, and the child will be subjected to additional force from the crash. A tight fit using the “pinch test” to make sure there is not too much slack is recommended. You should never be able to pinch any of the car seat strap fabric vertically. Also, in 2011 the American Academy of Pediatrics changed their recommendations to keep children rear facing through their second year, and older children should be in a booster seat until they reach 4 feet 9 inches tall.
Dress your child in thin warm layers, and remove their coat before strapping them in to their seat. You can keep them warm with a blanket, or by wearing their coat backwards in the car seat. There are also many products on the market such as car seat bunting or poncho’s that go over the car seat.
The Car Seat Lady always has great tips and information on child car seat safety and as always the American academy of Pediatrics is a great resource for child safety information. Stay safe from your insurance family Downey Insurance!