Car Seat Safety Tips You May Not Know

We had a great weekend here in KY until last night.  We were on our way home from an out of town late lunch and Target shopping trip when we were in a car accident in our own neighborhood!

I have been so mad since yesterday.  We have a huge problem with residents speeding through the neighborhood.  This has been going on for over a year and there have been many times when I've been out walking and someone has flown past me so fast that I was in shock at how fast they were driving.  Another time, when I was walking with HPK in the stroller we literally had to move off the road into the ditch to avoid getting hit.  With so many kids and families in our neighborhood, I cannot even begin to understand why anyone would be driving fast.

So, back to the accident.  We were hit by a driver who was driving extremely fast on the wrong side of the road, as she ran the stop sign at the intersection where we were turning.  She never stopped and did not slow down until the second before she was going to hit us.  I'm talking about someone driving 50 through a 4-way stop.  Who does that?  She wasn't looking at the road.  I don't know if she was texting, or had a medical problem or what happened, but her eyes were not on the road.

I was in the car with my husband and our 2 year old.  Luckily we were not injured, but the driver who hit us was not wearing her seat belt so she wasn't as lucky.  She had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance.

So a couple of things:  1.  I feel sure that we were in an extremely safe vehicle  2. I feel sure that we had our son in the safest car seat out there and that he was in the car seat correctly.  

We are huge fans of Britax.  We have used other brands but I now feel sure that this is the safest car seat on the market and we will be replacing ours with the exact same one.  This is the Britax Advocate 70 G3.

It's weird that we had this car accident just a week after I was reading some car seat safety tips online to make sure we were doing everything correctly.  I did find out that prior to last week we weren't doing everything correctly so I want to share some tips with my readers who have little ones, who may not know this stuff.  I did know most of it, but not everything.  

1. Thick winter coats can compromise your child's safety in their car seat.  When the straps don't fit properly on your child's chest due to the thick cushiness of their winter coat, there is a chance that the child could be ejected from the car seat.  It is not safe to put a thick winter coat or blanket under the harness of your child's car seat. Always remove your child's winter coat before putting them in their car seat.  It is safer to fasten the child into their car seat and then cover them with a warm blanket.  

2. Always check to make sure that there is nothing behind the baby's back in the car seat such as a small toy, bottle etc..

3. Always make sure that the straps on your child's car seat harness fit tightly.  They should not be loose.  

4. Your car seat should be replaced if you are in any type of a crash even a low impact crash, if the car has to be towed and cannot be driven, the police department will tell you not to use the car seat again.  So even in low impact crashes, you should always replace your car seat.  There may be no visible damage, but don't take the chance.

5. The safest place for your child to be is in the middle of the back seat.

6. Always make sure that the chest clip is on the child's chest and not at their belly. 

7.  Never, ever buy a used car seat.  Just don't do it.  Don't take the chance if you don't know the history of the car seat.

8.  Do not use the LATCH system and the car's safety belt to lock the car seat into the car.  Use one or the other.  Never both. Click here for more information on why you shouldn't use LATCH and the seat belt together.   

** If you have a child in a car seat and you are using the LATCH system to lock your car seat into the vehicle PLEASE read this article,
"Child Seat Requirements Change with 2014 Rule" from
USA Today.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful week.  Happy Monday!