Proper way to buckle up

“We were only going to the grocery store ...”  “He hates to ride in his car seat, so just this once I didn’t make him ...”  “She was having a meltdown, so I took her out of her seat for a minute to calm her down.”  Traffic safety experts hear these words all too often from distraught parents after tragedy has struck. Remember, a one-time lapse in consistent car seat use can result in a lifetime of regret.

Learn the right way to install your child’s car seat and see what common errors to avoid.  The Town of Superior Fire Hall is our child passenger safety inspection station in Mineral County. We gladly accept appointments for our certified technicians to educate parents and care givers the proper way to install their child’s car seat.  We also hold car seat checkup events approximately every other month.  Our next inspection station event is scheduled for Saturday, September 20th, which is National Seat Check Saturday, from 1:00 to 5:00. There are also plans to hold a checkup event for the same day in Plains at the Plains Ambulance Barn from 9:00 to 12:00.  

Using a car seat consistently and correctly is the law in all 50 states. Montana’s law requires that children ride in a car seat until they are 6 years of age and 60 pounds and is punishable by a fine of not more than $100.  Best practice recommends that they continue to ride in a booster seat until they are 4’9 inches tall as that is when the vehicle’s adult seatbelt fits them more securely.

Most of all, children should never ride in the front seat under the age of 13.  There’s good reason for that. Every year, tens of thousands of children are injured in car crashes, and about a thousand are killed. In fact, car crashes are by far the leading cause of death for American children.  Properly installed car seats dramatically reduce the risk of death or serious injury in a collision.

Using an old or secondhand car seat may seem like a bargain, but it could cost you your child’s life. Not only are used seats unlikely to come with the manufacturer’s instructions (vital for correct installation), but they could be missing important parts, have been involved a crash (even unseen damage can affect the seat’s functioning), fall short of current safety standards, or have been recalled due to faulty design. Moreover, plastic gets brittle as it gets older, so a seat that’s too old could break in a crash.  In addition, to avoid the dangers of aging plastic, SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. recommends sticking with car seats that are ideally less than five years old and definitely less than ten years old. You can usually find an expiration date stamped somewhere on the seat.  

If you need a car seat or education on how to properly install one, please contact your Mineral County Buckle Up Montana Coalition Coordinator, Juli Balenger at 274-5888 for further details and to schedule an appointment.