Car seat checks show large percentage being used incorrectly

Debbie Webster and police at a checkpoint three years ago. They ran three operations earlier this year to check child restraints. Photo / Christine McKay

About three-quarters of child restraints checked in three operations in the Tararua District were not being used correctly.

Horizons Regional Council road safety coordinator Debbie Webster says three operations were run in April and May this year, targeting Pahiatua, Woodville and Dannevirke, and 74 per cent of car seats checked were not correctly installed.

Horizons Regional Council road safety coordinator Debbie Webster.

She says there’s a whole range of issues and while some might be minor, if the vehicle was involved in a crash, the outcome might be a lot worse.

The concerning figure was reported to the May road safety committee meeting which was subsequently reported at the Dannevirke Community Board meeting this month.

Out of the 163 cars stopped in the operations, 265 child restraints were checked and only 68 were correctly installed.

Debbie says 15 children had no restraint at all and 16 were in expired car seats.

“A lot of people don’t realise that car seats actually have a lifespan,” she says.

For some, that was usually about six years and parents were encouraged to check the lifespan of the seat when purchasing.

Another issue was that when parents were travelling with their children in wintertime, the children had puffer jackets on.

Debbie says it wasn’t recommended to have children wearing puffer jackets while in the car as it can cause the harness to be loose.

“We encourage parents to take the jackets off and just put a blanket over the child until they get them out of the car and then put the jacket on.”

Horizons can link people with Whanganui company Little Buds, who can take expired car seats and destroy them.

Little Buds also sometimes get donations of car seats and they do thorough checks on them to ensure they haven’t been involved in an accident, or aren’t past their expiry date, clean them up and bring them back to good condition.

Debbie says some of the checks also turned up seats that were unsuitable for the age of the child.

“It might be that they’re in a booster without a harness when they’re three and a half, four years old. We really encourage people when they put them into a booster to have one that’s got a harness in it.

“Some parents don’t realise that just putting them in a booster that hasn’t got a harness in it and just using the adult seat belt is not going to keep their child restrained the correct way because the kids are often too small to be in a seat that’s only using an adult seat belt.”

Debbie says the operations, done in conjunction with police, are mainly to assist parents, to educate them and assist them in getting their children restrained correctly.

“We try and do that whatever way we can.”

She says the days they go out with police, she finds it’s a good opportunity to get the word out there.

“It’s about building relationships and engaging with people in a positive way.”

Those checks can include anything from making sure the harness isn’t twisted to being on the side of the road for 10 to 15 minutes trying to fix up car seats.

Debbie says they also have packs to give out and sometimes include colouring pencils or a yoyo for the children.

“We find most parents are really receptive to what we’re doing as well.”

Information on child restraints is available through Debbie at Horizons or on the Waka Kotahi website.