When new parents are bringing home a baby for the first time, they are joyful and excited. Additionally, they tend to drive slowly and carefully to ensure the safety of their precious newborn. To further protect young children, many states also have laws that require parents to keep the kids in child car seats until they reach a certain age or size. As a parent, it is important that you choose the right type of car seat for your child to keep him or her as safe as possible.
Over half of the states, including Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin, have a law that states that children under the age of one and less than 20 pounds must ride in a rear-facing child safety seat. Rear-facing seats are very protective because the baby's body is blocked by the actual car seat to the front as well as the safety seat at the infant's back. In some cases, parents can get convertible child seats, which are child carriers with safety harnesses that attach to a base that can be left in the car. These can be versatile as well as safe.
For toddlers and preschoolers, many parents turn to forward-facing child car seats. Again, states vary on the age that these children can graduate to the next level, but it ranges from Florida at 3 to many states, including Illinois, at 8. The reason why forward-facing child seats are so important is that the seat belts and safety features of a vehicle are not made for little bodies. For instance, a seat belt may cut into a child's neck rather than strap him or her safely across the chest. Additionally, many harnesses in forward-facing seats are difficult for children to undo by themselves, making sure that they do not accidentally come lose in case of an accident.
After forward-facing child car seats, many states require children to ride in a booster seat for a couple more years. This is because children tend to outgrow forward-facing safety seats before they are big enough to fit an adult-sized seat and seat belt. Typically, a seat belt fits when a child is about 4'9", which is normally between 8 and 12 years of age. After this, some states require that children wear seat belts no matter what seat they occupy.
When you place your child into a car seat, no matter if it is forward-facing or backward-facing, convertible or not convertible, you are placing the life of your precious child into the a supposedly trustworthy device. However, if there are design or manufacturing defects with a child car seat, it can result in your child getting thrown around a vehicle in case of an accident, or not protected enough by the padding surrounding your child's head.
If your son or daughter has been injured due to a faulty car seat, you should visit the website of the auto defect attorneys from LaMarca & Landry, P.C., today to learn more about your legal rights.
