It is very important that you practice good road safety procedures whenever you go on the road. This is particularly important if you have children with you.
One of the procedures you should make sure you follow if you have children with you is to purchase a good car seat. There are several rules that are placed on car seats to make sure they will help protect a child in the case of an accident.
If you are purchasing a car seat for the first time, you are probably looking for one for an infant. Infant car seats are specially designed for children that weigh 30 pounds or less.
They also carry children who are less than 32 inches tall. As these children are so small, these seats are designed to face the back of the car.
They also come in two parts so that it is convenient for the parents. The bottom portion can stay in the car, while the top portion can be used to carry the child around.
The top portion easily snaps back into place so that you do not have to worry about doing two seatbelts every time you want to go somewhere in your car. This is also ideal because you do not have to wake up your child to take him or her out of the car to bring him or her inside after a car trip.
You can simply pick up the seat and carefully take him or her inside so that he or she will continue sleeping peacefully. It is generally advised that a child should use one of these car seats until he or she is at least two years old, even if he or she grows to be larger than the recommended weight and height.
This regulation was recently changed as it used to be only that child should only be in rear facing car seats until they were one year old.
This change was made based on a study that found that children were up to five times safer in a rear facing car seat than in a forward facing one.
When you are considering the purchase of one of these seats, they are not all the same. Do not simply go out and purchase the cheapest or the cutest one.
It is also recommended that you do not obtain a used seat. Used seats may have been damaged in a previous accident and they may not be able to protect your child fully.
In addition, used seat do not have warranties or personal recall notices if there is a defect. You do not want to learn the hard way that the seat you chose was not appropriate for protecting your child.
Another fact that many people do not know about is that most car seats have an expiration date. This expiration date is usually set for about six years after the car seat was made.
It is set because plastic dries out and becomes fragile overtime. An old car seat will not be able to protect your precious little one nearly as much as new one.
In addition, if you have been in a car crash, you may want to consider purchasing a new seat. The integrity of your old one may have been compromised during the crash and you do not want to risk the safety of your child with a seat that is not ready to protect him or her.
The rules are similar to bicycle helmets. If it has been used in a moderate to serious crash, it should not be used again.
Minor fender benders in which the air bag did not go off or the child's door was not impacted are usually mild enough that the seat was not compromised. The safest type of harness system is a five point harness, even though a three point harness system will often do the job.
A three -point harness system is easier to use, but children can often squirm out of them as they get older. A five-point harness system usually can prevent children from wriggling out as long as they are properly secured.
For convenience, you may also want to purchase a second base for the seat if you have two cars. This way you will not have to worry about switching the base if you decide to use a different car.
Another thing you will want to consider is the weight of the car seat. Car seat can be quite heavy to tote around and you will not want to have to lift more than you have to.
Choosing A Safe Car Seat