Smart Safety: Child Seat Installation

I recently had a chance to interview Evenflo’s Safety Expert Sarah Haverstick about car seat safety.

1.       Why do you think so many car seats are installed incorrectly?

Approximately 70% of car seats are installed incorrectly. There are many common misuses. Many car seats are not tightly installed. With a correct, tight installation, the car seat will not move more than 1” from side to side or front to back when you test it at the belt path (grabbing the car seat where you have it installed to do this test). A lot of parents also fail to use the tether strap. That strap, which is generally attached to the back of a car seat, hooks to the tether anchor in your vehicle – and when properly installed, can help reduce the distance a child’s head moves in a crash by up to 4 – 6 inches! Frequently, we see parents using both the seat belt and lower anchor attachments at the same time, but that method of installation is often not approved by the car seat manufacturer. Also, when using a seat belt to install a car seat, many parents do not realize that the seat belt must be locked for proper installation.

Car seats can be confusing – especially for a first time parent. The biggest mistake that a parent can make is not reading the instruction manual. That is probably one of the leading causes of all misuse we see in the field. As soon as you take that car seat out of the box, you should find and read the instruction manual. And when you are finished with that, find your vehicle owner’s manual and read through the sections related to child passenger safety. It might take you a little bit of time on the front end, but will likely save you many headaches as you try to work through the installation.

2.       How can parents be sure they do have their car seats installed the right way?

First, don’t be afraid to ask questions!  If you are unsure of whether the installation of your car seat is correct, or your child’s fit is appropriate – find a nationally certified car seat technician near you. There are over 35,000 certified car seat technicians across the country that are ready to help! Car seat technicians provide education about child passenger safety and can assist parents with the installation of their car seat. The goal is to empower parents so they are confident enough in their own installation skills to do it the next time on their own. You can find a car seat tech in your area: http://cert.safekids.org/find-tech

You can also reach out directly to your car seat manufacturer. The manufacturers take child passenger safety very seriously and often have multiple certified car seat technicians on staff. At Evenflo, we have over 25 technicians and 2 instructors on our team!

3.       How do new features on the Evenflo Symphony with SureSafe help parents?

As mentioned earlier, seat belt installations of car seats are often incorrect because parents do not understand what type of seat belt system they have in their vehicle and how to lock that seat belt when installing their car seat. The LATCH System (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) was developed to eliminate the need for using the seat belt. The Evenflo Symphony with SureSafe Installation includes new LATCH Guides and lower anchor connectors making it easier to install the car seat using LATCH. The LATCH Guides attach to the lower anchor bars in your vehicle. They can stay in the vehicle once attached (even if you are not installing the car seat). The guides make it easier to access the lower anchor bars by creating a tunnel in between the vehicle seat cushions. No more digging around to try and find the anchors in your vehicle! The new lower anchor connectors push onto your lower anchor bars and have a quick-release loop to make it easier to uninstall the next time you need to move the car seat into another vehicle. This type of lower anchor connector is two times easier to install correctly than the traditional lower anchor hook.  The Evenflo SureSafe Installation System increases the ease of a proper installation to keep your child safe and give you peace of mind.