November 04, 2020 –
King County: On Saturday October 31, 2020, the Washington State Patrol (WSP) held a Treat and Car Seat event at the District 2 Headquarters in Bellevue. The event was attended by 40 families. Each family left with candy, goodies, car seat safety information and most had a car seat inspection. The event was very successful.
New parents have a lot of questions about the car seat and tend to have the technician at the maternity ward check the infant car seat. It is paramount that parents continue to educate themselves as their child grows and different car seats are necessary. The safety issues with car seats that were seen at this event are issues Troopers see daily in the community when investigating collisions and making traffic stops. Our goal is to educate parents so that they can place their child in the seat and be confident that the seat will work as intended by the car seat manufacture.
Below are some of the issues that were discovered at the event on Halloween.
1) Incorrect harness height (Front Facing kids with harness positioned for Rear Facing, Rear Facing kids with harness positioned for Front Facing, Front Facing kids who have outgrown the highest harness slots).
2) Incorrect harness adjustments (too loose, chest clip too low).
3) Poor/Damaged condition of harnesses (damaged/twisted harnesses that do not lie flat anymore).
4) Incorrect installation of the car seat into the vehicle- (using both LATCH and seatbelt, using LATCH after it exceeded its weight limits, NOT installed at ALL! car seat installed too loose).
5) Incorrect booster use- (not using guide pieces such as shoulder guides and lap straps, incorrect placement of car seat head restraint on high back boosters, or incorrect positioning of vehicle head restraint on backless boosters).
6) Not using tether strap with Front Facing installation, or attaching tether strap to cargo hook instead of tether anchor.
7) Incorrect recline angle for Rear Facing seats.
If you would like to have a car seat checked or have questions about car seat laws please reach out to Trooper Chasity Van Auken at Chasity.Vanauken@wsp.wa.gov.
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