Car Seat Safety Flaws

Making kids safe in cars seems to be a lot harder than we thought when the first child safety seat made its appearance in 1962. After almost 50 years of legislation and new technology, we still can't get our kids buckled up properly.

Your Kids, Your Car, and You
In 2005, according to government statistics, 1,946 children 14 years old and less died in auto crashes and 234,000 were injured. Of those who died in auto crashes, 46 percent were totally unrestrained in the vehicles. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that "child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers in passenger cars."


There are 61 million children in America and most of their parents want to do the right thing for their kids, but with hundreds of different vehicle models and a hundred or so child safety seat designs, the margin for child safety seat installation error is staggering. Add to that directions that combine lawyer and engineer speak, and parents can understandably get it wrong.


In 2002 the government mandated a LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) anchoring system that does not use seatbelts to install a child safety seat. (Poor tightening of seatbelts in the installation process was the Achilles heel of child seat installation.) It was supposed to allow parents to correctly install a child safety seat in a matter of seconds. The system utilizes two sets of small anchor bars in the rear where the back and seat cushions meet. LATCH-equipped safety seats have a set of attachments that clip to the LATCH anchors. Most forward-facing safety seats also have a top strap or tether that attaches to another anchor behind the seat. LATCH-equipped vehicles have the systems installed on the side or outboard positions in the back seat, but some models offer a center anchor. The system works with infant and toddler child safety seats but not booster seats. LATCH has been phased in since model-year 2000.

Faltering Solutions
"LATCH was supposed to simplify child safety seat installation for parents and that isn't happening," NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason said, releasing a 2005 study showing that only 55 percent of parents are using the system correctly. Those parents not using the system correctly said they didn't understand it. Parents who got the installation wrong were failing to use upper tethers for the child seats that reduce the tilting or rotation of the seat during a front crash.