Child Safety Tips - Prevent Car Seat Belt Entanglement
By: Sarah Delgo | Posted: 02nd September 2010
Seat belts are supposed to protect our children, it is hard to believe that there are times when they do not, We look at them and do not realize that they can also be dangerous. Each year, children become injured or die because they get tangled up in seat belts. These dangers do exist and parents need to know about them. Tragedies like this can be prevented.
With most seat belts, when the belt is pulled completely out of the retractor, there is a mechanism that locks it. It is a feature that was created specifically to work when a childs car seat was installed. The plan was for it to lock and hold the car seat firmly. But when the lock becomes activated and a child is buckled into the belt, he may become pinned and unable to get free. If the belt locks across a child's chest, they may not be able to breathe or if it goes across the throat, they may choke to death.
When a child is not properly restrained, this becomes a bigger threat. It is not possible for a child who is sleeping or lying down on the seat to be restrained correctly, they can easily become entangled in the shoulder section of the belt. Even older children who are buckled in can play with the seat belt, causing it to lock and putting them in danger.
Prevent seat belt entanglement with these tips:
· Avoid letting your children play in or around cars.
· Never leave your children alone in a vehicle
· Make sure your children are buckled in securely
· Teach your children that seat belts are not toys
· Be aware whether your vehicle has locking seat belts.
· Find a way to get unused seat belts out of reach
· Buckle unused seat belts. Pull the seat belt all the way out and feed the extra webbing back into the retractor.
You child's safety seat may be secured with the LATCH method. If so, you should take all of the precautions mentioned above before installing safety seat. Since this method does not use seat belts to secure a car seat, the child may be able to reach the unused seat belts more easily.
It is always a good idea to read the owners manual for both your child safety seat and your vehicle for specific instrutions
Car seat laws vary from state to state, click car seat laws by state for a comprehensive reference. See a Britax Boulevard review.
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Tags: parents, cars, seat belts, tragedies, toys, seat belt, car seat, latch, entanglement, webbing