Car Seat Safety

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has made a change in previous policy regarding replacing child safety seats involved in a crash. parents or caregivers can visit the NHTSA Site to learn more about the revision and the reasons behind it.

Children should ride in boosters until at least age 8 or they are 4 feet 9 inches and the vehicle safety belts fit correctly. Correct fit means: 

• The child can sit all the way back against the vehicle seat, with knees bent comfortably over the edge.
• The lap belt remains snugly across the bony areas of the lower hips/upper thighs (not the soft abdomen).
• The shoulder belt remains snugly positioned across the chest and collarbone. 

If any of these criteria are not met, it is likely that the child needs a belt-positioning booster seat.

• Infants should ride in rear-facing safety seats as long as possible.
• Children should remain rear-facing for as long as they are within the weight limit or they meet the maximum weight limit of the rear-facing mode.
• After your child graduates from an infant carrier to a convertible car seat, they should still remain in the rear facing mode until they meet the maximum weight limit, which could be up to 50 lbs. depending on the car seat model.  
• Children should be correctly secured in belt positioning boosters or other appropriate child restraints until the adult lap and shoulder belts fit correctly (around age 8).
• Once the vehicle safety belts fit children, both lap and shoulder belts should be correctly used.
• Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the back seat.
• Any safety seat must be installed and used according to the manufacturer's instructions and your vehicle owner's manual.

Mesa Fire and Medical Department does not provide free car seats.  Please visit:

• Safe Kids Maricopa
• Children Are Priceless Passengers Program, CAPP

There is not yet a credible rating system for child safety seats in place. Since all current child safety seats must meet the same standards, you may want to visit a store with a wide variety of child safety seats and ask the manager if he/she will let you install the store's display models in your car. Most stores are fairly receptive to the idea of bringing one model at a time to your vehicle.

Ask these three questions about each model you consider:

1. Does it fit your child?
2. Does it fit your vehicle(s)? - Not all child safety seats can be correctly installed in all seating positions of all vehicles. Be sure to read both the child safety seat and vehicle instructions. In general, a correctly installed child safety seat should not move more than 1 inch side to side or forward, when pulled at the safety belt path. 
3. Will you use it consistently and correctly? - Different child safety seats vary in design and features. It is important to choose one that you and your child are comfortable with, and that you will correctly install and adjust for every ride.

Arizona law requires an appropriate safety seat up to the age of 8 unless a child is more than 4 feet 9 inches tall (57 inches). This height is used because that is considered to be the standard by which a vehicle seat belt should fit correctly. 

While most families are used to the idea of keeping kids in safety seats until they are around 5 years old, many are not aware that children need safety seats much longer than that. Vehicle safety belts are designed to protect adults and older children, and they must fit correctly to provide that function.

Looking at current vehicle designs, child growth patterns/charts, and general lessons learned through observation, many advocates have concluded that vehicle safety belts don't fit until children are 8, 9, 10 or even 11 years old. As a result of this fact, combined with the fact that boosters are not yet widely used, we see a great number of serious (and fatal) injuries to children. Internal organ and spinal column injuries often result from improper belt fit.

There are several issues surrounding used child safety seats, so in general they are not recommended. Here are a few of the concerns: 

• The full history of a second-hand safety seat may be unknown. It may have been damaged in a previous crash, weakened by inappropriate use and storage, or otherwise compromised. 
• All of the original parts, instructions and labels may not be present and in good condition. Parts substituted from other models are inappropriate, as are other user modifications, and can compromise the safety of the seat.
• The safety seat may be recalled. Missing or damaged labels may make that difficult to assess, and determining whether a recalled part has been repaired or replaced can also be difficult. 
• The safety seat may be too old. Most manufacturers agree that a safety seat that is more than six years old should not be used. This is primarily due to the facts that performance standards frequently change and incorporating new technologies protect children better. In addition, replacement parts and instructions may no longer be available for older safety seats, and manufacturers may no longer be in business. 
• https://www.nhtsa.gov/car-seats-and-booster-seats/used-car-seat-safety-checklist