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Last year the LATCH (Lower Anchorage and Tether for Children) requirement went into effect to make it easier for parents to install and use safety seats. As of September 1, 2002, all safety seat and vehicle manufactures must produce their products with LATCH system compatibility. That is not to say Safety Seats and Vehicles manufactured before that date are defective or un-safe, just that the system is now available for new seats and vehicles. Historically, more than 95% of safety seats are installed and/or used incorrectly. Many of the errors seen could be considered “fatal errors”. That is to say that if the vehicle was involved in a crash the occupant of the safety seat would probably have been ejected, killed or seriously injured. If your child’s safety seat moves more than one inch when grabbed at the belt-path, or if the child’s harness straps are not snug at the shoulders with the harness clip at armpit level, your child is riding at risk. There are many other installation and use errors that could cause a failure of the system, if you are not sure if your child is safe, contact a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician as soon as possible. In Pinellas County, call 727-892 KIDS or your local fire department. Not all fire departments are involved in the safety seat inspection program and not all firefighters are certified technicians. Call the department first to see if they have a safety seat inspection program and set up an appointment with a certified technician. Some Pinellas County law enforcement agencies are also involved with safety seat inspections, again call them first. The Pinellas County Health Department is also involved in safety seat inspections, call Barb Mabee at 727-824-6900 X-2209 for information and an appointment. Anyplace in Florida a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician can be found by calling 1-877-KIDSEAT or for anyplace in the country by checking the AAA or NHTSA websites (www.aaa.com and www.nhtsa.dot.gov).
“East Lake Buckles-Up” Program Report
When we started “East Lake Buckles-Up” in 1999 and inspected 206 safety seats. Errors: 170 82% (96% actual) No Errors: 7 3% (4% actual) New Installations: 29 15% CRS given away: 8 Boosters given away: 7
In 2002, we inspected 280 safety seats. Errors: 177 63% (91% actual) No Errors: 16 6% (9% actual) New Installations: 87 31% CRS given away: 19 More than twice the number than in 1999. Boosters given away: 23 More than three times the number than in 1999.
The percentages are deceiving because of the amount of new installations taking away from error/no error count. The actual percentage of errors is more like 96% in 1999 and 91% in 2003.
Since we started the program in February 1999, we inspected 1,065 Safety Seats but many more were not counted as our personnel assisted other agencies with checkpoints outside of our fire district (Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Oldsmar, and other areas of Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco Counties).
Our program has proven how much it is still needed in the community by the still high error rate, but also how successful it has been by the decrease in the percentage of errors and the increase in the number of new installations due to the increased awareness of parents and care givers about the dangers of incorrect installation and use of safety seats and booster seats.
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Seat Belt Syndrome Article by D/C Bill Walker RN Links: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Florida Department of Transportation 1999 Observational Survey of Safety Belts and Child Restraint Use in Florida National Organizations for Youth Safety Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D.) Florida Traffic Crash Facts 1998
Robin
Alves, Child Passenger Safety Technician; East Lake Fire &
Rescue D/C Dennis Hejl, Child Passenger Safety Technician; East Lake Fire &
Rescue Fire Marshal Steve Rogers, Child Passenger Safety Technician; East Lake Fire &
Rescue Fire Chief
Jeff Malzone, Child Passenger Safety Technician; East Lake Fire &
Rescue
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