South Carolina’s Child Passenger Restraint Law Mandates Proper Car Seat Safety
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This week we celebrate National Child Passenger Safety Week.
As a parent, I’ll never forget our first car seat installation. I read the installation manual in its entirety, agonized over where to place the car seat in the car, climbed all over the car to determine how to install the seat using the LATCH (lower anchors and tethers for children system) system, struggled over how to pull the straps on the car seat tight so that the seat was snug and secure, and when finished was proud of my efforts, thinking there was absolutely no way that this car seat was installed improperly. I was wrong.
The fact is that even if you read the car seat manual, you will still more than likely install your child’s car seat improperly, possibly risking your child’s safety when he or she needs it most. Over 81 percent of child restraints are used incorrectly. This includes 88 percent of forward-facing toddler seats, 86 percent of rear-facing infant seats and 85 percent of safety belts, as determined at child passenger safety seat inspection stations across the country. Despite my best efforts, I was one of those statistics.
When I pulled up for my car seat inspection I expected to pass with flying colors. Instead a police officer climbed in my car and in approximately 5 seconds determined that the car seat was improperly installed. I was dumbfounded. The officer proceeded to pull out an ordinary pool noodle, cut it to size, and leveraged it to properly position and safely secure the seat. In less than five minutes I was in, out, and on my way.
These inspections are FREE and they only take a minute. To make it even easier, many of the car seat check points provide other activities geared towards children to make the time go by even faster.
PROTECT YOUR CHILD. PROPER RESTRAINT MAY SAVE YOUR CHILD’S LIFE:
According to the CDC, car seats reduce the risk of death in car crashes by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers ages one to four.
For children aged 4 to 7, booster seats reduce injury risk by 59% compared to safety belts alone!
In fact, auto accidents are the leading cause of death for children under 12. In 2006, National statistics showed that less than one out of every five kids between the ages of four and eight is riding in a car booster seat. Don’t take the chance.
The CDC recommends that all children younger than 13 years old should ride in the back seat. This is even more important today given that most cars on the road have airbags that may deploy in the event of an accident.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that your child be retrained in a booster seat until the seat belt fits properly, usually around age 8 and when your child is approximately 4 ft 9 inches tall.
CHOOSING A SEAT AND YOUR OBLIGATIONS UNDER SOUTH CAROLINA LAW:
· The seat must meet federal standards.
· The seat must fit properly in your car. Read your (vehicle) owner’s manual for information about using a child restraint in your vehicle. For example, your vehicle may not be equipped to support the LATCH system.
· The seat must be appropriate for the child’s weight and height.
· Do not purchase a car seat second hand if you can avoid it.
· Watch for recalls. Our website, lists all recalls from the Consumer Product Safety Commission making it easier to keep up.
· Your child’s age and weight determine the type of car seat that is appropriate.
· Use LATCH or a seat belt, but never both.
· Understand that South Carolina law is not as stringent as what experts recommend.
· In South Carolina, Infants should ride in rear facing seats until at least 20 pounds or one year of age.
Infants in rear-facing car seats should NEVER ride in the front seat of vehicles with airbags.
Infants should be reclined, up to a 45-degree angle to ensure comfort.
Thread the harness straps through the lowest pair of slots in the back of the seat. This will help keep the baby restrained in the seat, providing additional protection in a crash.
Buckle the harness system between the infant’s legs.
Tighten the harness so that the child is snugly secured in the seat.
Secure the safety belt to the safety seat. The safety seat should not move more than 1 inch toward the front of the vehicle or side-to-side.
Your infants head should stay at least 2 inches below the top of the child seat. If your child is too tall for his or her seat before the child turns one, you should move the child to a convertible seat designed to be placed in a rear facing or forward position. If you use a convertible seat in the rear facing position, the harness straps should be at or below the infant’s shoulders; the chest clip should be at the infant’s armpit level.
· In South Carolina, Children between the ages of 1 and 5 weighing between 20 and 40 pounds should ride in a forward-facing safety seat or harness system, ideally a 5 point safety restraint system.
Thread the harness straps through the top pair of slots in the back of the safety seat.
Buckle the harness system between the child’s legs.
Tighten the harness so that the child is snugly secured in the seat.
Secure the safety belt to the safety seat. The safety seat should not move more than 1 inch toward the front of the vehicle or side to side.
Combination seats, which are often marketed as “highback boosters,” may be used provided that your child is the appropriate age and weight. These boosters usually have a harness that can be used from 30 pounds up to 40 pounds or more and removed to convert the seat to a booster. As a parent, I must say that these are well worth the money. They come in many themes, look more grown up and are easy to install and remove.
· South Carolina requires that Children between the ages of 1 and 6 who weigh over 40 but less than 80 pounds ride in a seat secured by a belt-positioning booster seat; experts recommend that you use a booster seat until your child is 8 years old and taller than 4 ft 9 inches.
Children weighing between 40 and up to 80 pounds and between the ages of 1 and 6 should be restrained by a belt-positioning booster seat, not a harness.
Belt-positioning booster seats, which are used in conjunction with the vehicle’s lap-and-shoulder safety-belt system, provide good upper-body protection for children weighing more than 40 pounds.
A booster seat keeps the vehicle seat belt positioned correctly over the strongest bones—the shoulders and hips. Without a booster seat, the seat belt probably won’t work and fit properly.
High back boosters provide head support not provided by vehicle seats with low backs or no head restraints.
The mid-point of the back of the child’s head (ear level) should not be above the vehicle seat back cushion or the back of the high back booster.
Technically, in South Carolina, if your child is under 6 but can sit with his or her back straight against the vehicle seat cushion, with his knees bent over the vehicle’s seat edge without slouching, the child may be seated in the regular back seat and secured by an adult safety belt.
Don’t get lazy. Many parents forgo these seats thinking that their child is big enough and/or it is not worth the battle. These seats are very easy to install and remove and will protect your child in the event of an accident. Don’t take an unnecessary chance. Remember, experts recommend that your child should ride in a booster seat beyond his or her 6th birthday until he or she is 80 pounds and at least 4 ft 9 inches.
· For children restrained in an adult safety belt:
The lap belt should fit low across the hips, NEVER across the face, neck or stomach.
The shoulder belt should fit snug across the shoulder, not the neck.
Generally, seat belts do not fit a child correctly until at least 60 pounds.
ADDITIONAL TIPS:
Set a good example and always buckle your seat belt. Even better, refuse to start your car until everyone is buckled.
Begin using the safety seat immediately and plan ahead. Install your child’s car seat weeks before your due date to ensure that you do not have to worry with it at the last minute. Protect your newborn in a safety seat on the way home from the hospital and every trip even if you are just running up the road. Remember, accidents happen closest to home, so don’t be fooled by a false sense of security and allow your children to be unbuckled for even a quick trip.
Be persistent. Every parent knows that children will seek to push the limits. If your child thinks that he or she can throw a temper tantrum to avoid sitting in his or her seat, the child will likely continue to do so.
When your child graduates to a larger seat, allow him or her to help you pick the new car seat out. Children are happier and more inclined not to fight their safety seat when they are comfortable. There are many “themed” car and booster seats available now targeted directly to children.
Be careful of what you give your child while he or she is in the car, including sharp objects, food, and drink. If there is an emergency, remember you are in the front seat and may not be able to reach your child immediately.
Remember, not only do you have to worry about your driving, you have to worry about everyone else on the road.
Strom Law Firm is a personal injury and criminal defense law firm centrally located in Columbia, South Carolina. Our firm proudly handles personal injury, criminal defense, defective products, class actions, pharmaceutical liability, toxic torts, medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, workers compensation, social security, veteran's benefits, qui tam, predatory lending, tax investigations, business litigation, and wills and estates. Our lawyers proudly edit the Columbia, South Carolina Injury Board as well as the Strom Law Blog as a pro bono effort to provide the public valuable information. Our lawyers are licensed in: South Carolina, New York, and Georgia.