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Child Passenger Safety Week Kicks Off, Parents Listen Up!

Officials with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently announced the launch of Child Passenger Safety Week. During this time, safety officials would like to remind parents, guardians and caregivers to make sure that they have the right car seat for their kids and that these seats are properly used. Unfortunately, a good amount of adults across the nation improperly install and use these seats, increasing their kid’s risk for injury, and even death, in the event of a car accident. As a matter of fact, a recent NHTSA study showed that about 20 percent of all parents are doing it all wrong!

Our Parkland car accident lawyers understand that parents and guardians are the number one line of defense against serious injury and death for these young passengers in the event of a car accident. It’s important that all parents use the proper car seat for their child, according to their size and their weight, and that they use these seats correctly. The NHTSA even provides adults with a number of Child Seat Inspection Stations in the state of Florida. At these locations, adults can talk with a certified technician who will inspect their child car seat. In most cases, these inspections don’t cost a thing!

“We encourage everyone to take advantage of the many resources available to ensure you’ve done everything to properly protect your child,” said USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood.

Parents are urged to take a look at their child’s car seat and at the seat’s instruction manual to make sure that everything is installed correctly. A properly used seat can save your child’s life in the event of an accident. Take a peek at the commonly made mistakes of parents when using car seats (listed below) and make sure that you’re not doing any of these. Share this information with your fellow parent friends!

Common Mistakes Made By Parents:

-Using the wrong harness slot. These straps are to be used to hold your kid’s car seat where it needs to be. They’re unfortunately commonly positioned too high or too low.

-Positioning the harness chest clip over the abs of the child instead of the chest, or they’re not used at all!

-Installing the car seat too loosely. These kinds of restraint systems are oftentimes able to move more than two inches from side to side and from front to back. Officials say anything more than an inch is far too much!

-Leaving the harness too lose. There should be absolutely no slack between the child and the harness.

-Seat belts are often placed wrong over the child.

Another NHTSA study showed that one out of every five adults failed to even look at the kid’s car seat instruction manual. At the same time, about 90 percent of parents were “confident” that they were using these seats correctly.

Car seats actually save hundreds of lives each and every year. Many more can be saved if their car seats are used correctly.

If you or your child has been injured in a car accident, contact Freeman, Mallard, Sharp & Gonzalez at 1-800-561-7777 for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your case.

More Blog Entries:

Broward Traffic Safety: Parents Guilty When Children Not Buckled In!, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, August 26, 2012

Accidents in Port St. Lucie and Elsewhere Likely with Children, Cars and High Temps, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, July 1, 2012

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