The recent free child restraint checking event, a service provided by Parkes Shire Council, discovered that 45% of the child restraints checked were incorrectly fitted.
The service provided free child restraint inspections in the Kelly Reserve carpark by local Authorised Child Restraint Fitters.
Eleven child restraints were brought in by parents and grandparents for checking - mostly rearward/forward facing converter child restraints, along with a few capsules and booster seats.
Parkes Shire Council's Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said this bi-annual event continues to be popular.
"The child restraints that were incorrectly fitted had minor problems that needed fixing to ensure the safety of the child," Ms Suitor said.
The most common mistakes were:
- the harness shoulder straps needed adjusting
- the child restraint was moved to the passenger side of the vehicle (so loading and unloading can happen on the footpath side of the vehicle)
- the ISOFIX connectors needed tightening
- the seatbelt was not being used correctly with the child restraint and
- a gated buckle needed to be fitted to ensure a tighter fit.
"The correct fitting and adjustment of child restraints is vital. It is important to make sure that your precious cargo is safe and buckled up every time they are in the car - whether it's a five minute or five-hour journey," Ms Suitor said.
While this was a free bi-annual event, local Authorised Child Restraint Fitters can install and check child restraints all year-round for a small fee. The local fitters in Parkes are Col Fletcher Ford & Kia and Parkes Tyrepower. The local fitter in Forbes is Jelbart Dawson.
Free child restraint checking days were held in Condobolin and Forbes the same week as the Parkes event. Across the three shires, there were 29 child restraints checked, and 52% were incorrectly fitted. There were three installations and four follow-up checks with people who were unable to attend the checking days.
"The most common issue that we encountered was that the inbuilt harness shoulder straps needed to be adjusted. Remember that as children grow, their restraint needs to change. The harness shoulder straps should be above or inline for rearward-facing seats and above or no more than 2.5cm below for forward-facing seats. If you can pinch the strap, your child's harness is not tight enough," Ms Suitor said.
National child restraint laws have been in effect since 2010. All children must be safely fastened into the correct child restraint for their age and size. Children need to be at least 145cm or taller to use an adult lap sash seatbelt.
Research shows children who are not restrained correctly are seven times more likely to sustain life-threatening injuries in a crash than those who are properly secured.
Visit www.childcarseats.com.au
