Ventura County Star (California)

Anyone who has wrestled with fastening an infant car seat can tell you it can be a frustrating battle.

Car seat safety has long been a concern because loose straps or connections can put a child’s life at stake. The issue was pushed into the national spotlight this week when a study by Consumer Reports found that 10 of 12 infant car seats tested “disastrously failed.” The two others passed.

The scientific validity of the magazine’s tests were questioned by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), which represents manufacturers of infant child restraints in the United States.

“Child restraints are highly effective safety devices that have saved thousands of children’s lives in car crashes, said Robert Waller, president of the association. “It is irresponsible to suggest that infant child restraints may not perform well in crashes.”

When Rachel George of Ventura had her son, Connor, she didn’t want to take any chances. She brought her Graco SnugRide — one of the two brands that passed the magazine’s tests — to a police station and had it installed for free. Connor, now 4 years old, has long outgrown the infant seat and will be moving onto a booster seat soon. The straps on his current seat frequently become tangled, which can be frustrating. But the important thing is that he’s safe, she said, and tightly latched in.

“It only takes a few seconds to latch him in — I’m an expert,” she said.

Even though the study’s results, which tested only infant car seats, no longer applies to her son, she’s still concerned for many of her friends’ infants.

Judy Dugan, research director for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, said, “It’s like a puzzle to get these car seats correctly fastened. What’s astonishing is that the car manufacturers don’t come up with a single standard — an attachment for an infant or child seat that is easy to use and reliable.”

Dugan predicts that many parents who hear about this report are going to be terrified, and that many will ditch their current car seats to buy one of the two recommended by Consumer Reports.

The importance of car seats

Still, using any car seat is better than none at all, said Lore Exner of Ojai. People didn’t use car seats in the ’60s when she was raising her daughter. Exner said she put her baby in the back seat, a practice that she still sees sometimes today.

Not using car seats is really the issue, according to JPMA, not whether they are safe. The association says car seats reduce the likelihood of death by more than 70 percent, and that the seats are more effective than adult safety belts.

Dugan disagrees, saying car seats are not nearly as safe as adult safety belts.

The real problem will be for the parents who do not question the safety of their current car seat, Dugan said.

“They think that they’ve protected the child,” Dugan said. “Because of a system that offers no clarity, they can’t ever be sure.”

If seat makers and car makers cannot collaborate and find a single standard, Dugan said the government would have no choice but to step in to implement a regulatory standard.

“I’m sure that every parent who has tried to install a car seat, and every parent who is standing in front of their minivan, worried to death that what they’ve got isn’t going to do any good in a crash, would agree that it’s time for the government to step in,” she said.

On Friday, Safe Kids Ventura County, a program under Ventura County Public Health, issued a statement in response to the magazine’s report, noting that parents should not fear for their children’s safety in cars.

Every car seat on the U.S. market has passed the same rigourous crash tests required by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the statement said.

The study found that at speeds as low as 35 mph, seats separated from their bases, were rotated, and would have caused serious injury. The report states that at 38 mph, four seats flew out of their bases.

Safety is No. 1 priority

Safety is always the main concern when purchasing a car seat, said Roger Hicks, assistant manager at the Juvenile Shop in Sherman Oaks. The Juvenile Shop carries four car seats, including the Graco SnugRide. The other seat that passed the Consumer Reports’ tests was the Baby Trend Flex-Loc. Both seats sell for $90.

People don’t want a car seat that’s not safe, no matter if it looks like a million bucks,” Hicks said, adding that the Graco SnugRide has been the store’s top seller.”Overall, it has a better safety rating, so that sells itself.”

At the Baby Depot Department at Burlington Coat Factory in Ventura, customer service representative Oneilia Martinez said many customers consider the cost and color of car seats, which are priced from $70 to $229.

A manager estimated the store sells about 20 different kinds of car seats, including Graco SnugRide, Safety 1st, Cosco, Graco and Evenflo.

No matter the brand, Linda Bays, co-coordinator for Safe Kids Ventura County, says four out of five car seats are not installed properly.

To get their car seats fitted, parents can call and make an appointment with the Ventura County Fire Department at the Camarillo Airport. Safe Kids also organizes car seat check-up events throughout the county with car dealerships and other organizations.

The fitting events are important because the misuse rate is staggering, Bays said.

“Most of the time there is something wrong with the way it is installed — it’s not tight enough, or the particular car seat doesn’t fit the car, or the harness straps aren’t tight enough.”

At the William L. Morris Chevrolet dealership in Fillmore, Rick Villasenor, a general sales manager, said car seats can be ordered through the parts department and the dealership teams with Safe Kids. The dealership is holding its next fitting event Jan. 13.

On the Net: http://www.consumerreports.org
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