Clinic teaches proper car seat use
BRAWLEY — Car seats have expiration dates. That’s not something most people would about, but it was one of the things California Highway Patrol Officer Javier Amezcua was checking while helping parents learn whether the equipment used to secure their children in the car was up to snuff.
Amezcua was one of four CHP officers on hand for a car seat clinic held at Pioneers Memorial Hospital Saturday. Hospital staff and CHP were joined by members of the Brawley Police Department, Brawley Police Explorers and CHP Explorers.
CHP provided free inspection and consultation on car seat safety, while Brawley Police assisted with instruction on proper seatbelt use. In cases where a car seat judged unsafe, parents received a new one at no charge, courtesy of the hospital.
Amezcua said, over time, particularly in extreme heat such as in the Imperial Valley, the plastic in car seats breaks down, making it brittle and unreliable in an accident. He recommended reading the manufactured date on seat’s specifications label and replacing any seat over 5 years old.
Other common problems with car seats are seats that are either too big or too small for the child, those that have twisted or worn straps or latches, straps that are either two loose or too tight and seats that are improperly installed in the car. For instance, Amezcua said, it’s fairly common to install child safety seats without ensuring the seatbelt holding it in place is tight enough or latched securely.
A common problem with infant seats, he said, is that parents will often have the front seat of the vehicle pressed so tightly against the infant seat behind them that it can’t work correctly. An infant seat, installed front facing back, is designed to rock on impact. If it can’t move and roll with a blow, the child will absorb more impact from the shoulder straps.
State law requires children younger than 8, below a height of 4 feet, 9 inches to be secured by a car seat or a booster seat in the back seat of the vehicle. Children 2 or younger and less than 40 pounds or 40 inches tall must ride in a rear-facing car seat properly secured in the back seat of the car.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 46 percent of car and booster seats are misused in a way that could reduce their effectiveness.
Properly secured car seats reduce the risk for death to infants (less than 1 year) by 71 percent and to toddlers (ages 1 to 4 years) by 54 percent in passenger vehicles.
Additionally, booster-seat use reduces the risk for serious injury by 45 percent for children aged 4 to 8 years when compared with seat belt use alone.
The car seat event ran from 7 a.m. to noon. As of approximately 10:30, the hospital had given away roughly 30 free car seats.