Experts Warn About Incorrect Installation Of Child Car Seats Threatening Children’s Lives

Experts have warned that errors in installing child car seats are putting children’s lives at risk.

Experts revealed that the number of possibly fatal mistakes in how child car seats are fitted or installed continues to become an “intractable problem”, which threatens the lives of children.

A study done in 2010 which involved 503 children from newborn to the age of 12 found that half of all restraints had errors in how they were used. It was also revealed that some had up to seven errors each, ranging from failing to buckle the child in to slackness in the belts and sashes. Oftentimes, parents weren’t aware they had made a mistake.

Now, in a new study, it was found that the error rate is even worse, with almost all parents having difficulty understanding manufacturers’ instructions and manuals.

Researchers from Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) observed as parents read manuals and then tried to correctly fit and install a child-sized mannequin in a rear-facing restraint.

The study resulted to 90 per cent of the parents making at least one mistake, while many made several. However, after doing rounds of revisions using suggestions from parents, the level of errors dropped to 10 per cent.

Dr Julie Brown, a senior research fellow with NeuRA, explained that the incorrect use of child car seats is a common problem among parents.

“Everyone is seeing this intractable problem of incorrect use. What we’ve been doing over past decades has made no difference to correct use. It’s a longstanding problem, and nothing has really changed,” she said.

Instead of asking experts, Dr Brown and her colleague Professor Lynne Bilston are asking parents for advice. “Instead of a group of experts sitting around, we are actually talking to parents, and parents and consumers are driving the direction of our research. We are trying to ensure information supplied with child restraints is comprehensible, and to improve restraint design so they’re actually difficult to use incorrectly,” she said.

Professor Bilston said the research had shown it was possible to develop instructions and manuals that reduced dangerous mistakes. “We keep going until they can be understood,” she said, adding that the key was breaking instructions into simple and numbered steps, and providing clear diagrams.

Five-year-old Bayleigh McIntosh from Sydney’s east already knows at an early age the risk if her child car seat isn’t buckled snug and tight: “If you are in crash you will fall out a window,” she said.

Lisa Keay from the George Institute for Global Health, said parents also have to introduce hard rules early and stick to them.

“You may think it is quite safe because you are just going down the street. But there is a risk always. Even a low speed crash can cause injury. You have to be inflexible: it is like you don’t let kids eat poisons,” she said.

Source: Essentialbaby.com.au and 7News Sydney Facebook