How to Really Save Children

July 17, 2003 permalink

According to an article by David Teetzel car safety seats for children are almost never installed correctly. Do you want to know how to make children safer? Fire a hundred social workers and replace them with one mechanic. Here is the article:

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Can't somebody make a car seat easy to install?

David Teetzel

07/17/03 00:00:00

I remember the reporter shaking his head in dismay.

In a traffic safety blitz in May 2002, 100 per cent of child car seats failed inspection. Police checked out 21 child seats on York Region roads and not one of them was being properly used.

While another inspection blitz last July brought the pass rate up to a still-dismal 29 per cent, it was back to total failure this year.

That's pretty serious, when you consider more than 90 per cent of injuries to children in traffic accidents can be attributed to improperly installed car seats, according to St. John Ambulance. According to Transport Canada, proper use of approved car seats reduces the risk of injury and death 75 per cent.

I couldn't imagine what was keeping parents from doing this.

Until this week, when I spoke to Lisa Macdonald.

Ms Macdonald had just bought a car seat for young Robin Ashley. She tried to install it using the manufacturer's instructions, which she said were "quite good".

However, instructions said the straps shouldn't give more than one inch in any direction. Her car seat was too loose, even after she tried all the trouble-shooting instructions provided.

Wanting to make sure her baby was safe, she went in search of help. Since police hand out tickets for improper car seats, she went to the York Regional Police station in Newmarket. She was told nobody there had the training.

However, the cops directed her to the region's Health Connection line at 1-800-361-5653.

But when Ms Macdonald called, she was told the next car seat clinic wouldn't be held until fall.

Thinking she might want to drive with her child before that, she went to a car dealership. Surely the service department could help.

Well, no. She was told there were "liability issues" involved with installing car seats. (One would think any mechanical work on a car could leave one open to "liability issues", but never mind.)

The mechanic told her Chrysler offers seminars on child seats.

But the next one isn't till Aug. 19 -- sooner than the public health session, but still a long time to wait.

So she went to the fire hall, the Children's Aid Society and the Red Cross, none of whom could help.

Her last call was to the OPP. One of their suggestions was to go to their next spot check, which will be on Hwy. 400 on the long weekend. If they found the child seat was installed improperly, they would fix it. (One would think if it's dangerous to drive with an improperly installed car seat, one should definitely refrain from doing so at 100 clicks on a busy highway, but never mind.)

But -- hooray -- the OPP's child car safety specialist, Const. Ann Goodwin, was in Aurora this week and agreed to fix Ms Macdonald's car seat.

One would like to think every parent would have the same perseverance and commitment to protecting children as Ms Macdonald, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them give up somewhere around the third or fourth call.

I don't want to slam any of the above agencies. It's great Chrysler and York Region provide resources to help parents with car safety issues -- and I understand they both have plenty of other things to do.

I would also recommend www.carseatdata.org as a great online resource for people choosing a child seat.

But should it really be this complicated? Should a consumer really need help to use such an important item.

I have no children and, therefore, no experience with car seats. A couple of parents I asked told me the complicated part is tethering the seat to a knob over the rear door of the car. I was also told it takes a certain amount of physical strength to pull the straps tight enough.

This should be a challenge to all the engineers and designers employed by seat manufacturers and car makers. Surely somebody should be able to design a safe child seat that is easy to install. How about it?