Car Seat Safety And Your Vehicle

A car crash is a hectic experience, but there's often an aspect that becomes ignored – the harm to the child safety seat and associated harm to that child. Twenty-five thousand children are wounded in car crashes each and every year, so the issue is significant.

While the child safety seat is designed to defend little ones from newborns to around eight years of age, it can't do what it claims to do if it's poorly set up or a poor fit for the rider, or re-used after a collision or intensive wear.

Nationwide, the misuse rate for child safety seats is over eighty percent and all the way to ninety-five percent in some areas. And with child safety seats set up in a projected one in ten automobiles on the highway, the possibility of one being in a major accident is a concern. Child safety seats and booster seats definitely protect lives – when set up and utilized the right way.

CARSTAR, the nation’s biggest family of auto body repair experts, and their franchise owners in Steve's CARSTAR Auto Body Repair in Arnold, MO work together with numerous safety organizations to help teach parents about the proper installation and use of child safety seats, and to make certain child car seats are replaced after accidents to ensure the safety of the child.

Accidents have a toll on safety seats, but replacement need is not always clear. Insurance firm and vehicle repair standards often determine what parts and systems need to be changed under what conditions, and at what cost. That isn't true for child safety seats. In many instances, the child seat needs to be replaced after an accident, even though harm to the child safety seat might not be apparent, as outlined by NHTSA guidelines.  But the criteria for replacement and the compensation differ greatly – from not being included to only a stipend that covers an entry level child safety seat.

Whenever any sort of accident takes place, the physics of the accident put extreme stress on the frame, harness and framework of the child safety seat.  This could result in the child safety seat to not perform to standards in future collisions and significantly diminish the actual quantity of defense supplied.  But identifying the influence on the child safety seat is tough considering the range of providers and versions on the market.

That is the reason why Steve's CARSTAR Auto Body Repair is stepping in to make sure that parents think about the child safety seat whenever they have their automobile repaired.  It is essential to check out the child safety seat for any affected parts, damaged frame or structure, busted hinges or inflated airbags.  These are signs that the child seat in question needs to be replaced.

NHTSA advises that the overall performance of the child safety seat be evaluated following any crash and possibly replaced in every crash that deploys the air bags, compresses the front bumper, rear bumper or side panels or causes injury to the riders.

Installation, Proper Fitting is Essential

The most important factors in child safety seat performance include installation and appropriate fit.  Any mother or father can let you know that set up can often be difficult and that trying to keep up with an ever growing child is difficult.  In reality, some 4 of 5 child safety seats are hooked up incorrectly.

It is vital to have your child safety seat examined for correct installation at a child safety seat inspection station or event. The important thing here is guaranteeing the seat is properly installed so it'll work properly in the case of a crash. Make sure to pay attention throughout the installation procedure. Be a proactive participant in the set up. Do not just let the technician do all of the work.  It is extremely important for whoever owns the car or truck to know how to set up the seat properly.

In times past, local law enforcement and fire departments have performed child safety seat checks, but inevitable budget cuts across the nation have gotten rid of a lot of these.  To help occupy that gap, this CARSTAR location is stepping up to certify our store's associates on child safety seat installation and holding clinics at their local store.

At Steve's CARSTAR Auto Body Repair in Arnold, Missouri, they're performing monthly child safety seat installation inspections at their location. These draw countless parents to the store for the free service.