Importance of child seats
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Published: April 16, 2009
Kahn News would like to remind parents about the importance of child seats and the need to replace restraints after an accident.
Parents may ask: “Why is changing your child car seat so important.”
Well let’s look at the law:
If your child is younger than 12 years of age, or below 135cm in height (4ft 5ins) they must wear a child restraint.
If your child is under the age of 12 and spotted not wearing a seatbelt, you (the driver) are actually breaking the law, and you could face a fine between £30 and £500.
Research reveals a quarter of parents with children between the ages of three and 12 are not actually using a car seat at all.
Around 30 children aged 11 or under are killed while travelling in cars and over 400 are seriously injured. Many of these deaths and injuries could be prevented by the proper use of a child seat.
Research reveals that 70 per cent of parents did not replace their baby or child seat following a car crash. In response, insurers ‘are reminding parents to replace them.
Many insurers will now pay for the replacement of child car seats which have been in an accident but have no signs of visible damage.
More than 20 per cent of people surveyed believe you don’t need to replace a child seat after a low speed collision.
A child car seat that was in a car that has been involved in an accident should be replaced, even if there is no visible damage. It is possible that it will have been weakened to such an extent that it will not provide the same level of protection in another accident. (The seat belts and seat belt attachments, especially one’s that were in use at the time of the accident, should also be carefully checked to ensure that they have not been changed.)
The study also showed, of those parents with car seats fitted in their vehicles, nine per cent do not feel confident they have fitted the child seat correctly and only 14 per cent seek professional help to fit the seat.
Figures:
Low speed accident (21 per cent).
Didn’t think they needed to (15 per cent).
No apparent damage (9 per cent).
They had it inspected but were told it was ok (7 per cent).
Their insurer wouldn’t pay for it (5 per cent).
To find out more about Project Kahn car seats visit:
http://www.kahndesign.com/automotive/projectkahn/?page=baby&id=baby&make=baby
Email: mailto:kahn@kahndesign.com
