Parents Flunk Child Car Seat Safety Checks

Results from recent child car seat inspections in New York indicate that parents need to do a better job of buckling up their little ones.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office says 931 car seats were inspected at a series of state-run safety checks earlier this fall. Only 112 seats were installed correctly.

In some cases, the seats were the wrong size for the child. In others, they weren’t tight enough or were positioned incorrectly.

According to the website www.seatcheck.org, fatal injuries dropped 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for children between the ages of 1-4 when child safety seats were used. The website also noted that while 96 percent of parents believe their child safety seats are installed correctly, research actually suggests that seven out of 10 children are not restrained correctly. The website offers a free child safety seat inspector locator program.

Cuomo says the number of poorly installed car seats is “eye opening.”

The seat checks are operated by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee and state and local police. Last year 375 such events were held.