Vehicle Safety For Your Child Safety Seat

It goes without saying that a car accident is a stressful experience, but there's one factor that is consistently overlooked - damage to your child safety seat and associated injury to the child. As many as twenty-five thousand children are injured in car crashes each and every year, so the problem is clearly a very real threat to our children.

Of course, the child safety seat is specially designed to protect children from infancy to around eight years old. However, it quite simply cannot do its job if improperly installed or an improper fit for the occupant of the seat, or if re-used after a collision or extensive usage.

Across the country, the misuse rate for child safety seats is over eighty percent and as high as ninety five percent in certain areas. And since we know that child safety seats are put in an estimated one out of every ten vehicles on the road, the possible risk of one being in an accident is most definitely a concern. Child safety seats and booster seats save lives, but only when installed and used correctly.

CARSTAR, this country’s premier family of auto body repair specialists, and their franchise owners like those at Kurt's CARSTAR Collision Center in Maryville, Illinois work with many safety organizations in order to instruct parents on the proper installation and usage of child safety seats, and to guarantee that car seats are swapped out after accidents to preserve the protection of the child.

Even the smallest of accidents can take a serious toll on child safety seats, but replacement need isn’t always clear. Insurance company and vehicle repair standards commonly influence what parts and systems have to be replaced under what conditions, and at what cost when it comes to your car or truck. However, that simply is not true for child safety seats. In the vast majority of cases, the child seat should be replaced with a new one after an accident takes place, even though damage to the seat in question may not be immediately visible, according to NHTSA guidelines.  But the standards for replacement and the compensation vary widely – from not being included to only a stipend that covers an entry level child safety seat.

When an accident does occur, the physics of the crash put an incredible amount of strain on the frame, harness and structure of the child safety seat.  This can cause the child safety seat to not perform as it was intended in any future crashes and tremendously diminish the total protection offered.  However, determining the total impact on the child safety seat is difficult with such a wide array of manufacturers and models on the market today.

That’s why Kurt's CARSTAR Collision Center in Maryville, Il is getting involved to ensure parents consider the child safety seat when they have their vehicle is repaired.  It's vital to review the child safety seat for any damaged parts, cracked frame or structure, broken hinges or inflated airbags.  These are some of the most prevalent signs that the child seat has to be replaced.

NHTSA urges that the overall performance of the child safety seat be rigorously examined after any crash and possibly replaced in any accident that deploys the air bags, compresses the front bumper, rear bumper or side panels or causes injuries to the passengers.

Installation And Proper Fitting Are Key

The most crucial elements in child safety seat performance are the installation and correct fit.  Any parent will readily tell you that installation can be a challenge and that keeping up with a developing child is not an easy thing to do.  With all of that in mind, it's no wonder that four out of five child safety seats are installed incorrectly.

It is important to have your child safety seat checked out for proper installation at a child safety seat inspection station or event. The thing that has to be remembered here is to make sure that the seat is installed properly so it will work properly in the event of a crash. Pay close attention during the installation process. Be an active participant in the installation, don’t just let the technician do all the work.  It’s vitally important for you -the owner of the vehicle- to know exactly how to install the seat in the correct fashion.

In times past, local law enforcement and fire departments have held child safety seat assessments, but municipal budget cuts all around the nation have done away with a lot of these.  To help fill the gap presented, this CARSTAR location is stepping up to the plate to certify our store's staff on child safety seat installation and having clinics at their local shop.

At Kurt's CARSTAR Collision Repair in Maryville, Illinois, they are conducting monthly child safety seat installation assessments at their location which draws in hundreds of concerned parents to the store for this complimentary service.