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Nadine Wimmer ReportingSafety advocates in Utah are working to address a troubling percentage -- 80-percent of child car seats are installed improperly.
If you've installed a car seat, you know it helps to be really technical and really strong. Trained installers are attending a child seat conference here in town. What they're learning could help every family Stay Safe.
Parents on their way to the Children's Museum know the importance of car seats, but whether they're installed correctly is another matter.
Michelle Zapata, Mom: "I hope so. We do our best."
Julie Vanderwekken, Mom: "Usually my husband takes care of that because it seems like he can cinch it a lot tighter than I can."
Kristen Borges, Mom: "We just make sure it's tight in there and that the clip's on there."
They may have false hope, given that car seat experts find as many as eight out of 10 are improperly installed.
Lorrie Walker, National Advisor, Safe Kids Coalition: "A lot of parents don't realize just how difficult it is to do it right. They want to do their best for their child, but they just don't know how to do it."
Installers from all over Utah are getting up to date training they hope will filter down to parents.
Lorrie Walker: "The biggest thing we want parents to know is that it's not simple. It's not just a matter of buy any car seat, put it anywhere."
- You shouldn't be able to jiggle a car seat in any direction more than an inch.
- You shouldn't have enough slack to pinch the harness strap.
- And consider car safety a 10 year investment, including car and booster seats.
Car crashes are the leading killer of children, so properly installed car seats can be one of the most valuable safety tools.
The state gave training DVDs to the installers, we thought parents could benefit from it, too. So we got permission to put it on our website. Go ahead and take a look.
