National Child Passenger Safety Week

Car crashes are the leading cause of death for children.

Car seat checks can help prevent fatal mistakes parents often make… Some of those common mistakes include loose harness straps, chest clips fastened too low, and turning the child forward-facing too soon. AAA spokesperson Kimberly Schwind said that something as simple as your child wearing a coat can lead to injury.

“As we get into the colder months, we see a lot of parents putting bulky coats, blankets, and extra clothes underneath the harness straps, and you don’t want to do that because if you are in a crash, that could actually compress, the child could move more and that could cause internal injuries, so you really need to place and blankets or coats on top of the harness straps,” Schwind said.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, child safety seats reduce the risk death by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers. Child passenger safety technicians often find that more than half of car seats are installed incorrectly.

“Cars seats are extremely complicated, and to make matters worse, every vehicle is different, so you could be installing one car seat in several different vehicles and have to do it several different ways, so what you really need to do is read the manuals for both your vehicle and the car seat when you’re installing a car seat,” Schwind said.

Monday kicked off Child Passenger Safety Week. To bring awareness, AAA Ohio Auto Club is offering free car seat checks, by appointment only. For more information, visit AAA.com/ChildSafety.