Greg Jordan: Correctly installing a child safety seat is worth the trouble
Jul. 28—The West Virginia Coalfields Highway Safety Program is offering a free child car safety seat check this Friday at East River Plaza near the Walmart in Princeton. It will be from 9 a.m. to noon.
Both of my nephews are grown men now, but I very much remember when they were babies and later little boys in child safety seats. My sister, Karen, religiously studied the best way to install these seats. She was absolutely determined to get it right.
The process reminded me of getting astronauts ready for blast off. When I helped her install child safety seats, I'd pull on the car's seat belts with all my weight until they were connected rock-solid to the back seat. The slightest bit of slack was unacceptable. I'd went through the process two or three time until Karen was satisfied. Then she would get A.J. or Alex ready, and she would take the same care to make sure they were buckled in the right way.
Karen was ready to go work for NASA after figuring out those safety seats. Astronauts wouldn't have anything to worry about after she got them strapped in.
I learned that child safety seats have to be installed correctly, and they have to be the right size and fit for the children they'll be carrying. During the free safety check this Friday, seats will be checked to see if they're installed the right way and inspected to make sure they don't have any defects or recalls that could make them ineffective.
Safety seats for babies didn't exist when I was born. Mom recalled having to carry me in her arms while dad drove, and they both quickly decided that wasn't going to work. Dad got some aluminum tubing he salvaged off a baby stroller and used them to make a car seat for me.
I can't remember if he saw a plan in the old "Popular Mechanics" magazine or if he dreamed it up. He was a engineer, so he could have designed it himself. He designed everything from interstate highways to furniture and screened-in porches, so he could do a safety seat without any trouble.
Karen and I later said that he should have patented the idea. If he had the patent for child safety seats, we'd be millionaires today. From what research I've done, the first child car seat, made back in 1933, was something called a Bunny Bear. It was made so kids could see out the car's windows, not to make them safe. Safety seats attached to seat belts didn't become available until the early 1970s.
I can testify that installing a safety seat isn't easy, especially if you don't have any experience. Getting the seat belts connected to the seats correctly, then making sure those seat belts were tight enough, was a challenge. When you're in a hurry, it's tempting to think the seat is "good enough" and get on the road.
Well, making sure you've installed that seat the right way is worth all the trouble.
I've personally seen that child safety seats actually work. Several years ago, I covered a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 77 near Camp Creek, the scene of more than one tragedy. When I heard on the scanner that a mother and her baby were in the car, I offered a silent prayer and expected the worst.
The worst didn't happen.
When I arrived on the scene, troopers, fire and EMS were there. The mother was holding her baby boy and talking with a state trooper. She was disheveled and her baby was fine. You wouldn't think anything serious had happened. He had been riding in a safety seat, and that safety seat did its job.
Making sure that a safety seat is working properly and installed correctly is worth the effort, and getting professional advice is always a good idea. The time spent will increase the odds of a happy outcome if the worst ever happens when your child is with you in the car.
Greg Jordan is the Daily Telegraph's senior reporter. Contact him at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
