Is your child's car seat correctly fitted?

Too many cars seats are wrongly fitted, says Helen O’Callaghan.

FOUR out of five child car seats are incorrectly fitted. This can result in serious injury or worse, says the Road Safety Authority (RSA). It has checked 4,000 child car seats and restraints in Ireland since last October: 83% required adjustment. The RSA’s ‘Check it Fits’ service found 79% of seats needed major adjustment. Three percent were deemed not fit for purpose and condemned — they could have caused injury or death in the event of a collision.

“The most dangerous thing a child does every day is travel as a passenger in a car,” says Brian Farrell, RSA communications manager. He says the alarming statistics revealed by the ‘Check it Fits’ service refer only to child car seats brought along by parents to be checked.