New .Gov Site Gives Parents the Lowdown on Child Seat Safety

Every car crash is regrettable, and if someone gets hurt, it’s downright tragic. However, when there’s a child injured in an auto accident, the tragedy seems somehow compounded. Parents go to great lengths to protect their children when they’re in the car, but it can be a mind-bending mysterious maze of options when trying to figure out the best child safety seat for your child or children.

The variety and price range of child safety seats available makes it extremely difficult for parents to know which model is indeed the most suitable for the kids to travel in. Now, help may be at hand, and the source is not some company promoting its own “newest, safest, best” model. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has stepped up to give parents a hand in making what are potentially life-saving decisions. Recently, the NHTSA has launched its own website with detailed guidelines and the most up-to-date regulations regarding child safety seats.

So many factors to consider

The website, http://www.SaferCar.gov/TheRightSeat is part of a larger site on the whole area of car safety, but the advice and assistance on means to prevent a child being injured in an auto accident are largely being welcomed by child injury attorneys across the country.

The RightSeat section of the website starts by going through the different factors parents need to consider when selecting the most suitable safety seat for their child. Some of the areas dealt with include:

• When a parent should switch their child from a rear-facing seat to a front-facing seat
• The age at which a child should be moved from a traditional safety seat to a booster seat
• When a child can be taken out of the booster seat and can simply wear a safety belt in the back seat

As new research is done and regulations change, the website will be the easiest way for parents to check on any new laws in their areas. But TheRightSeat goes much further than just listing rules and regulations. Other quite impressive features include:

• An expanded menu that lets parents see additional information about each type of car seat available
• Detailed instructions on how to properly install each of the various types of car seats. Too often, a child is injured in an auto accident because the safety seat in which the child was sitting wasn’t properly secured.
• Parents can even look at helpful instructional videos to make sure they’ve installed the safety seats properly
• Once you have the child safety seat installed, the website will give you the location of the nearest safety seat inspection station. These stations use certified car seat technicians who will be able to tell you within minutes if the safety seat has been properly installed.

 

And there’s more as the kids get older

As children get older, they are more likely to be using the road in different ways than just sitting in the back of their parents’ car. The website recognizes that fact and has different sections to deal with a range of possibilities. For example:

• The On the Move section gives good advice about safe practices when children are on school buses, or when they’re walking or taking a bike to school.
• An At the Wheel section offers parents helpful hints when they suddenly find themselves in the nerve-wracking position of having a teenage driver in the house who wants to take the car to the bowling alley on a Saturday night.
• Another very useful feature is the In and Around Cars page that offers excellent advice to parents on how to avoid such sadly common tragedies as power window strangulations, seat belt entanglement, back overs, heat stroke, trunk entrapment and rollaway vehicles.

Provided the website is regularly updated as and when rules change and new research is released, personal injury attorneys have little doubt the information provided has the potential to prevent a child being injured in an auto accident. What’s been presented by the NHTSA thus far seems a thorough yet easy to understand guide, not only for parents but for baby sitters, grandparents or other caregivers who may be transporting children.

From baby to toddler to young child to pre-teen and beyond, this new site has fantastic potential and is to be welcomed. Confused parents need no longer struggle with questions about the types of car seats that are not only safe, but meet the statutory requirements for transporting children of any given age.

No one likes to think about car crashes, but the sad reality is they are an all too common fact of life in Oregon. Thousands of people are hurt on our roads every year, and tragically, it’s often an innocent child injured in an auto accident. If your child has been hurt through someone else’s negligence, you’ll understand that the damage could have long-term consequences, both physically and financially.

Laws in Oregon regarding child injuries are complex. Different statutes of limitation apply, and there’s also the question of who has the right to any money received in a settlement. In cases where a child has been injured in an auto accident, it would be wise to contact an experienced and dedicated Portland injury attorney to guide you through the process of making a claim. They will work hard to ensure that your child gets the compensation they will need to help them start recovering and getting on with the rest of their life.