New » Child Car Seat Crash Survival Story

• Local Crash Survival Story Highlights Importance of
  Getting Child Safety Seat Installation Help From Professionals
  
• Dover - Six month old Addison Reel is a lucky baby. How did she manage to survive an October car crash that shut down Rt. 13 in Camden with just a scratch on her head when her father suffered a closed head injury and broken ribs, and his passenger broke 12 ribs and punctured a lung? Her father, Scott Reel says it's because he and his wife Laurie decided to have one of the Office of Highway Safety's Child Passenger Safety Fitting Station Coordinators show them how to properly install a child safety seat in their vehicle...
  (Click here to read full story!)
  
• Photos: (Click the photo for larger view!)
  
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Where Can I Get My Car Seat Checked?

• Where Can I Get My Car Seat Checked if I Can't Make a Community Car Seat Check?
  Fitting Stations!!!
  
• A Child Restraint Fitting Station is a location that is open year-round, where parents can go to have their child safety seats inspected.Most of the services are free, but Christiana Care does have a charge for their service.
• Below is a list of Fitting Stations located throughout Delaware.
• Kent County
  
• OHS Fitting Station - At Dover DMV, Rt. 113 South in Dover, Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 9 am - 1 pm, Wednesday 4 pm - 8 pm, contact Russell Holleger at (302) 744-2749 for an appointment, walk-ins are also welcome.
  
• Sussex County
  
• OHS Fitting Station - At Georgetown DMV, Rt. 113, Georgetown. Appointments as needed. Call Nadine Holleger at (302) 853-1014 for an appointment.
  
• OHS Fitting Station - U of DE Cooperative Extension office, Contact Mike Love at (302) 856-7303 for an appointment.
  
• Sussex County Pregnancy Center - Located at 5 Burger King Drive in Georgetown, appointments recommended. Call Teresa Bolden at (302) 856-4344.
  
• New Castle County
  
• OHS Fitting Station - At Wilmington DMV, Rt. 13 South in New Castle, Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 9 am - 1 pm, Wednesday 4 pm - 8 pm, contact Larry Kelley at (302) 434-3234.
  
• Christiana Care's SAFE KIDS Fitting Station - At the entrance to the Women's Health Care Building at Christiana Hospital on Ogletown-Stanton Rd. in Newark, Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., contact (302) 733-2472 to leave a message. Specify that you are calling to request an appointment for a car seat check, someone will return your call. Small fee.
  
• A.I. DuPont Fitting Station - At A.I. DuPont Hospital for children, Rockland Center One - across from Hospital in Wilmington. Hours: 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. by appointment only. Call (302) 651-5437.
  
• Not near a Fitting Station? The Office of Highway Safety still dedicates resources towards coordinating child safety seat checks in Delaware throughout the year. Outside of OHS, there are technicians who are also coordinating child safety seat checks. All safety seat checks are free and all OHS checks are also open to the public. Listed below is a schedule of upcoming child safety seat checks, which will be updated on a regular basis. If you have questions about Delaware's child passenger safety program, please contact (302) 744-2740.
• For more information contact us at (302) 744-2740
  
• To learn more about tethers and universal anchor restraint systems, go back to our home page, and click on the Other Hot Topics block at the bottom of the page.
  

Delaware Child Restraint Law

• Delaware's child restraint law reads - All children must be properly restrained in a federally approved child safety seat appropriate for the child's age, weight and height up to 8 years of age or 65 lbs whichever comes first.
• Additionally, children 8 through 15 years old are required to be properly secured in a seatbelt. The fine for violating the law is $25.00. AND children under 12 years old or 65 inches in height are still required to sit in the back seat if there are active airbags in the front passenger seating position.
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Which Seat Is the Best

• The Office of Highway Safety generally does not recommend one brand of car seat over another. The best seat for your child is one that which meats his/her height and weight requirements, and can be used correctly every time you put it the vehicle, or put the child in the car seat.
• • 4 Steps for Kids in Car Seats
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LATCH System

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  A rear-facing Britax tethered down. Few rear facing seats are actually permitted to use the tether system. Check your vehicle instruction book for the location of acceptable anchor points. ( photo: Cindy Genau)
  
  
  Universal Anchor Systems - Beginning in 2002, installing a child safety seat became much easier for many parents. That's because all new child safety seats and all new motor vehicles (except SUV's) made after this date must be equipped with a new system called L.A.T.C.H. That stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children.
  
  
  

  (Click the Image to Enlarge)
  If you have LATCH systems on both your car seat and in your vehicle seat, putting in a child restraint system can literally be a snap! The LATCH system on a child safety seat consists of a tether strap & hook at the top and two more hooks (either on two separate straps or one continuous strap) on either side of the base of the safety seat.
  
  
  An example of the Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) System. The top tether strap attaches to a point behind it. You can also see the lower attachment on the seat hooked to a bar in between the vehicle cushions.
  
  
  The LATCH system in vehicles consists of three little bars to attach the hooks to. Two of them will be found in the crack (or “bight”) of the back and bottom vehicle seats. The third for the top tether to attach to will be found behind the seat on a rear shelf or panel for 4-door vehicles, or behind the seat in the floor, or attached to the back of the seat frame in mini vans.
  
  
  To use this system, parents place the child seat in the vehicle seat, connect all the hooks, put their weight in the seat and then pull to tighten.
  
  
  Some vehicles manufactured within the last couple of years may be able to be retroffitted for LATCH anchors, as may some child safety seats made in the last few years.
  
  
  If I don't have LATCH in my car but I have it on my child's safety seat, can I still use the safety seat? The answer is yes. All new seats made with the LATCH system must still be able to be used the traditional way with seatbelts.
  

General Guidelines for Using Safety Seats

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  Children Under Age 1 and less than 20 pounds:
  
  
  Infants must ride in the back seat of the car facing rearward until they are a minimum of age 1 and 20 pounds. Many infant only seats are equipped to accommodate children only up to 20 pounds.
  
  
  However, more babies are reaching 20 pounds before the age of one. If this happens to you, you should buy a convertible seat (for use facing both backward and forward) with a rear-facing weight limit of 30 or 35 pounds and keep the child facing backward until they have reached this weight limit.
  
  
  ** Please note that the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that children remain rear facing until the rear facing weight limit of the seat is maxed out.
  
  
  Other Tips:
  
  
  Keep harness straps snug like suspenders. You should be not be able to pinch harness webbing between your fingers when you grip it at your baby's collarbone.
  
  Harness straps must be at or below your baby's shoulder level. If you find that even when putting the harness straps through the lowest slots, the harness straps are above the baby's shoulder level, you should not continue to use that seat until the baby grows into it.
  
  Make sure the plastic retainer clip is placed at the baby's armpit level. The retainer clip is used to hold the straps in place so they can effectively hold your child down in the event of a crash. (The above picture is of a Fisher-Price Safe Embrace which does not require a retainer clip for rear-facing installations.)
  
  It is extremely important to recline a rear-facing seat at a 45-degree angle for an infant. If the baby is sitting up any straighter, especially when very young, the head could fall forward and cut off its ability to breathe. As your child gets older, the seat can recline between 30 and 45-degrees.
  
  If you use a convertible seat, avoid using seats with T-shields (hard plastic triangles near the buckle) or seats with trays. These could injure small children in a crash, and often allow too much space between the straps and the child. Seats with a 5-point harness system are recommended.
  
  Do not attach extra padding or dangling toys to the safety seat. These toys could harm your child if you were involved in a crash. Extra padding puts too much space between the baby and the car seat, and has not been crash tested.
  
  
  Children Over Age 1 and Between 20 and 40 pounds
  
  
  These children should be facing forward in the back seat of the vehicle, after they have reached the maxium weight limit for a rear facing convertible seat. Many convertible or forward facing seats have a “foot” or recline arm at the back of the car seat's base. Flip that out to help stabilize the seat. If your car seat has a lever at the front of the seat to adjust the angle, adjust it so that the seat sits completely upright.
  
  Harness straps should go through the slots at or above shoulder level. Most car seats have a reinforced plastic hump or bar in the back. If yours does, then the harness straps must go over that bar and through the top slots.
  
  Make sure that the retainer clip rests at armpit level.
  
  If your car seat is equipped with a tether strap on the back, use it. Tether straps cannot be used for rear-facing seats, but should be used for children facing forward to limit the amount of space that your child's head will come forward in a crash. Consult your driver's manual to see if you have anchor points in your vehicle to attach a tether strap to, and follow your manufacturer's instructions.
  
  
  For more information on the use of tether straps and the LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) universal attachment system, click on the Hot Topics section of our Home Page.
  
  
  Children over 40 pounds
  
  
  
  Often around age 4...children at this point should be placed in booster seats as long as they are under 4 feet 9 inches tall. Do not place them in a seatbelt alone. Seatbelts are made to fit adults, not small children.
  
  
  Booster seats raise children up so that the lap and shoulder belt fit them properly.
  
  
  The lap portion should fit snugly and low over the hips. A lap belt that comes across the child's stomach could cause internal injuries in the event of a car crash. The shoulder strap should come across the child's chest, not his or her neck.
  
  
  There are two types of booster seats: High back boosters and shield boosters. High back booster seats look like a chair with no legs, and are generally considered safer than shield boosters.
  
  
  Use high back boosters with their harness strap systems for children between 30 and 40 pounds. Remove the harness system for children over 40 pounds, and use the booster seat with a lap and shoulder belt.
  
  Never use a device that looks like a sling to pull a shoulder belt away from your child's neck. If used, the “sling” also pulls the lap belt up to rest on the stomach area, which could result in organ damage during a crash. And never put a shoulder belt behind the child's back.
  
  Once the middle of the back of your child's head is above the top of the high back booster seat, it is safe to move them into a seatbelt.
  
  If you have lap belts only in the back seat of your car, never use a booster seat with the lap belt only. It is more dangerous to do that than to place your child in just the lap belt without the booster.
  

Tips for Installing Car Seats

• The safest place to install a child safety seat is in the center rear position. ** Note this may not always be possible if installing the car seat using LATCH attachments.
  
  Once installed, the child safety seat should not move more than an inch side to side. To check this, grab the seat at the point where the seatbelt goes through it and shake it. If the seatbelt loosens up, it's not tight enough.
  
  To get the seat in tightly, try this trick (may take two people). Put the car seat in the vehicle, route the seat belt through the designated path (most car seats will have stickers to show you where the seat belt should go for rear-facing or forward facing seats) and buckle the seat belt. Put all of your weight into the seat by pushing down on the seat with one hand. With your free hand, take up all of the slack from the lap portion of the seatbelt. Test the seat to see if it's in tight enough.
  
  
  What's a locking clip and do I need to use one? A locking clip is a metal object shaped like an H or T, and comes with new safety seats. If you're installing your child's car seat behind the driver or passenger seats in the back, you may need to use one. Pull the shoulder portion of the seatbelt all the way out until no more comes out. Slowly feed the seatbelt back in. If you can hear little clicks, or feel it “ratchet”, then you probably don't need to use one. If the seatbelt freely goes back in or catches only every once in a while, it's likely you need to use one. Read your manufacturer's instructions for specific details.
  
  Never attempt to secure a child safety seat with more than one seatbelt. It may seem like a good idea to use both the middle and passenger seatbelts to tighten down the seat, but it is dangerous.
  
  Do not put a towel between the safety seat base and the vehicle seat unless you are using a rolled one to achieve a 45-degree angle. Many parents try to protect their seats, or achieve a tighter fit by using a towel under the safety seat. This can be dangerous as well. A towel puts too much space between the car seat and vehicle seat, and may actually make it easier for the child seat to slide out of position. Instead, try using a sheet of rubber shelf liner. Most dollar stores or grocery stores carry them. The rubber shelf liner sheets are extremely thin, and provide a good gripping surface, especially on leather seats.