A frequently missed danger of child car safety seats rears
its ugly head around this time of year.
We carefully and snugly buckle a child into a properly installed seat,
yet the child is still not safe. What’s
the problem? A nice, warm, fluffy
jacket.
SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A., a non-profit organization dedicated to child passenger safety, issued the following warning: “Clothing worn by children can present
compression and harness routing problems. Bulky jackets and snowsuits can
compress in a crash and leave the harness slack on a child, allowing excessive movement or even ejection.” To see how much slack can be created by bulky
clothing, harness a child with a bulky coat into a seat properly, then, without
adjusting the harness, remove the child from the seat. Take the child’s coat off and buckle him back
into the car seat. I was amazed at the
slack created by the coat.
The question becomes how to keep the child warm, but still
safe. The U.S. Department of Transportation recommends “Always buckle the baby in the seat first, and then
place coats or blankets over the harness”.
Yes, that’s one extra step and the child might be chilly for a moment,
but it is certainly better than the hazard presented by an improperly adjusted
harness.
Make sure your staff knows how to properly buckle children
into car seats in inclement weather by including the process in your
Transportation Policy. Also, please make
sure parents are aware of this important safety information.
Misty
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