Pennsylvania State Police Find That 80 Percent Of Car Seats Not Installed Safely


Posted on Oct 29, 2008

September included National Child Passenger Safety Week, and to raise awareness, Pennsylvania State Police inspected child car seats around the state. Shockingly, according to The Morning Call, a full 80% of the child safety seats were not installed properly, rendering them useless. Although the children are still in the seat, not installing them correctly may even put them at risk for being more seriously injured in any car accident they may be involved in.

Many may not realize that PA law states that children under eight must not only be in a safety seat, but that they must be securely fastened correctly into an approved child passenger restraint seat.

During the week of September 21-27, PA State Troopers inspected 619 eats at 72 different locations. Over 80%, a staggering 502 of the seats were not correctly installed in the car, according to a state issued press release. All in all, 284 citations were written and 1,351 writen warnings were distributed. Citations were only given to those pulled over for other reasons - those who brought their seats in to be inspected were not cited.

"Child passenger safety seats save lives, but only when they are used properly," State Police Commissioner Frank E. Pawlowski was quoted as saying in the release.

Even more shocking may be the news that Pennsylvania's car seat installation issues are probably echoed across the country and that even more children are in danger while riding in the car. Officials from the US National Highway Safety Administration reported that misuse rates did not change due to geographic, socioeconomic, or educational levels - everyone is equally likely to install a safety seat incorrectly.

Most incorrect inspections revealed that many parents do not know to anchor the child seat to the car's normal seat, which cases the car seat to fly if the ca is impacted. The police officers also reported that seats were turned the wrong way or that the safety seat's harness was not being used correctly. In a number of other cases, parents were utilizing safety seats that had been recalled due to performance defects.

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