A Winter Coat Endangers Children in Car Seats
Photo: North Dakota
It’s cold outside, and you’re bundling your children up with puffy, warm coats. But a winter coat can actually endangers your child when he or she is buckled into a car seat.
Know How: To properly winterize your car
Jason Waugh, the valet supervisor at West Virginia’s 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 seat 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
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