Photo: North Dakota
It’s cold outside, and you are bundling your children up with puffy, warm coats. A West Virginia hospital employee claims that a winter coat endangers your child – one that is in a car seat that is.
Know How: To properly winterize your car
Jason Waugh, the valet supervisor at Cabell Huntington Hospital, has a Child Passenger Safety Certification. He says that a thick coat on a little kid can prevent a car seat from performing its role during a crash.
“With a big puffy coat it doesn’t allow the harness to fit properly,” Waugh said. “In the event of the crash, it can feel snug on the coat, but the child can come out of the car seat during an impact because of it.”
While it may add more time in preparing your child for a car ride in frigid temperatures, removing a child’s coat before strapping him or her in is a significant step in his or her safety.
Resolve To: Drive more safely in 2019
Car Seat Checks
While child car seats typically last five years, the West Virginia Division of Highway Safety encourages all parents to get their car’s child seats inspected. On its website, a list of car seat technicians is available for checking the car seat’s functionality.
Each car technician will check the seat for recalls, straps, and expiration dates. With chilly temperature fluxes, the material inside child car seats can worsen over time and end the seat’s utility.
Source: Huntington Herald-Dispatch, West Virginia DMV
John Baden is known for his creativity, humor, and charm. Since writing books during his childhood, he has written for newspapers, radio and TV stations, and online publications. In his free time, he enjoys playing the piano, watching Chicago Cubs baseball, and experiencing the outdoors. For John, a perfect day is summed up in a morning cup of coffee, an afternoon run in the sun, and an evening spent in an exciting chapter of a good book. See more articles by John.
