Choosing the Right Child Seat For Safety

A reminder to parents to make sure they are using the right child passenger seats in their vehicle.

I-W-K Health Centre Passenger Safety Spokesperson Katherine Hutka says car seats, booster seats and seat belts do work if they’re used properly, “We need to really focus on making sure your child is in the right seat for their height age, weight and development.”

September 20-26, 2020 was Child Passenger Safety Week across Atlantic Canada.

This year’s theme is “The Right Seat.”

“Keep your child in the seat that they’re in, in the stage that they are in, until they meet one of the limits. So, if your child is in a larger rear facing seat, it is safest to stay in that rear facing seat until your child has outgrown one of the limits,” Hutka says.

The IWK has found motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and serious injury for children in Canada, and using the right seat car seat or booster seat is the best way to protect a child in the car.

Hutka says, “Car seats, booster seats and seat belts do work. We know that a properly used restraint system can reduce the risk of injury and death by 70 per cent. We also know that most collisions happen close to home, on those short trips that families take every day.”

Parents and caregivers are invited to visit www.childsafetylink.ca where they will find child passenger safety information for every age and stage of child, including helpful fact sheets on each kind of car seat, checklists and instructional videos.