HOW CAR SEATS PROTECT YOUR CHILD
HOW CAR SEATS PROTECT YOUR CHILD
When it comes to road safety for children, car seats are one of the most effective ways to protect your child on the road.
We have spoken at length about the importance of using a carseat, but we often get asked how car seats protect children in the event of a crash. Car seats can reduce the chance of death in a car crash for an infant by 71% – car seats save lives! In understanding the relationship between car seat design, the developmental stages of a child and the dynamics of car crashes, we hope to drive home how imperative a car seat is to protecting your young child.
HOW CAR SEATS WORK
Cars are typically designed around the size and weight of adult bodies. For this reason, the safety mechanisms that are part of a car’s design are not as effective for a child.
Firstly, a child has a far smaller overall size than an adult, therefore a safety system like a seatbelt for an adult would not adequately secure a child.
A child’s body is also still in the process of developing. Joints and bones are more fragile. Parts of their skulls are not yet fused, leaving the brain vulnerable. Similar is true of the hip and pelvis which is made up of 6 bones in an infant or young child, which eventually grow together to form two structurally stronger bones in an adult. A child’s head-to-body ratio is much larger than that of an adult, which means in a crash, they are more likely to be thrown head first with the momentum of the impact.
The design of a car seat takes the vulnerabilities of a developing child into consideration. The three main safety concerns that a car seat aims to solve are: impact absorption, force distribution, physical protection.
In a crash, not only does your car seat secure your child in place so that they are not flung from where they are sitting, either into other passengers, objects or from the car altogether, but a car seat is designed to safely cradle your child through the momentum. A car seat should minimise the force of a crash to vulnerable areas of your child’s body, such as the skull, spine and pelvis.
A car seat harness will also distribute the force more safely, unlike an adult seatbelt which when used for a child, will concentrate the force to under-developed parts of the body, damaging soft joints and unprotected organs, such as the pelvis or abdomen.
The protective shell structure and padding of a car seat also helps to cushion the impact, while not allowing a child’s body to move around in the chair.
In order for a car seat to be effective, it must also be appropriate to your child’s developmental stage. Car seats use a weight-and-age range to ensure that it safely caters to your child as an infant, toddler or young child.
TYPES OF CAR SEATS AND WHEN TO USE THEM
Children should use car seats up until they are tall enough to safely make use of a seatbelt – at least 115cm tall, usually around 6 years old. However, until then from infancy, their bodies are developing and changing regularly and 3 different types of car seats are used as your child grows.
Transitions between different car seat groups are determined by their age and weight. The transitional period is represented as a range. It is advisable to keep your child in their current car seat as long as possible until they reach the upper limit of their age-weight range. Moving them too early may be premature for their needs at their current developmental stage.
You can find our Weight for Age charts here:
Infant Seats (up to 13kg or 15 months):
Infant seats are designed for babies who are not yet able to sit and support their bodies by themselves. Designed with a flatter angle, they cradle an infant, supporting their back and spine. Infant seats must be rear-faced as this allows the backrest of the infant seat to provide support in the event of front or side impact in a crash. If the seat were front-facing, the momentum of a crash would propel an infant forwards. This momentum would put immense force on their very fragile under-developed neck, spine and skull, which if not fatal, could result in life-long injuries.
Toddler Seats (from 6 months, 9kg or 70cm tall):
Once your child is able to sit up by themselves, a toddler seat provides support in a more upright position, allowing them to better see the world around them. Toddler seats are also able to recline to allow support while your child sleeps. Toddler seats can be rear- or front-facing, however toddler seats must remain rear-facing until your child is at least 15 months old.
When buying a toddler seat, ensure that it has a 5-point harness. Although your toddler is developing and their joints are stronger than that of an infant, a 5-point harness will allow for impact force of a crash to be distributed more evenly to the strongest points of their body. A 5-point harness will also keep them in a safe and secure position.
Booster Seats (from 4 years old, 95cm or a minimum of 15kg):
As we mentioned above, seat belts are typically designed around the size of an adult. Booster seats solve this problem for children by raising them up and positioning them correctly to safely make use of a 3-point seat belt.
A 3-point seat belt must be able to cross their lap and the middle of their shoulder. If a child is too small for this positioning of the belt, the result is that it will cross their stomach or will be too close to their neck. If they are unable to use the upper-body part of the belt, this also indicates that they are too small. A 3-point seat belt must anchor your child across the strongest parts of their body. In a crash, an incorrectly positioned seat belt can cause severe and potentially fatal injuries to the abdomen, neck and spine.
ESSENTIAL CAR SEAT SAFETY
Car seats for children save lives. However it should be reiterated that for a car seat to be effective, it must be the right type of car seat for your child’s developmental stage. An incorrect car seat would not only prove less capable of protecting your child in a car crash, but could cause a higher chance of injury or death.
The same is true of incorrectly installed car seats. When installing a car seat, ensure that you follow the manual closely so that your child is safely secured as intended. Double-check all anchor points and belts before placing your child in their car seat.
Car seats must be maintained and kept clean. Not only does a dirty car seat surround your child with potentially harmful germs, but grime and crumbs can affect the functionality of the mechanisms. Old and secondhand car seats should be inspected by a professional before being used to ensure they are in working condition.
Car seats, especially rear-facing car seats, should not be installed in the passenger seat if an airbag is active. An airbag deploys with immense force which can cause severe injuries. If deployed into a rear-facing car seat, it will propel your child face first into the backrest of the passenger seat, leading to a high risk of fatal injuries. Car seats are safest installed on the backseat of a car.
In South Africa, children up until the age of 3 years old must use a car seat by law. Despite this, understanding how car seats are designed to protect the vulnerabilities of a growing child, we would always recommend using a car seat up until at least 6 years old.