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Lori Prichard reporting A woman who didn't have two children in car seats during an accident today may face charges. The 5-year-old and 7-month-old children were ejected into the street. Both have head injuries.
Investigators say the children were not properly restrained in the car. While it's not clear if these children were buckled in at all, this accident serves as a warning for parents. According to child safety experts, only five out of 100 car seats are installed properly.
It's the small things on car seats that matter, like not adding anything that could become a projectile, or making sure that the harness straps are adjusted and snug. We went out with an expert and checked some car seats today. All of those we checked failed.
We spent part of the afternoon in the parking lot of the Hogle Zoo asking parents if Janet Brooks, an expert on child safety seats from Primary Children's, could take a peek inside their cars.
She pushed. She pulled. And she found things that needed to be fixed.
"One thing we like to do is have the parents do it, and I talk to you about it," Janet said.
In one case, the car seat was facing forward. It needed to be turned around for two reasons: the baby weighed less than 20 pounds and wasn't quite 1 year old.
The mother, Sarah Molloy, said, "Now I finally know hot to keep my kids safe. That would have been good to know on the first one!"
On to the next one, where Janet said "Less than an inch movement side to side, and forward and backward.
This mom had a problem with the seat's locking device. The problem with the next seat: Not having the seat belt locked keeps the car seat from being locked into place.
Another problem? A dad said of his child's car seat, "It's a hand-me-down." The car seat is too old. Janet says most have a shelf life of five years.
Next car? The 2-year-old child inside didn't weigh enough, according to Janet, to be in a booster seat. So the mother, Desi Sedgwick, says it's back to the car seat. "Apparently my 2-year-old would be safer in a harness. I thought with as much as she weighed she was fine. But it's good to know," she said.
Thanks to those moms who were such good sports. You too can have your car seat looked at, and it's free! There are safety inspection stations located across the state. To find one near you go to the link on this page.
E-mail: lprichard@ksl.com
