It's time to take action - I have had enough!
Everytime we go out in the car, our 3 year old daughter manages to release her arms from the shoulder straps on her car seat, thus being restrained purely by a lap belt.
And everytime I see her do it, my heart skips a beat, for should I have been involved in an accident, she surely would be killed.
Now before you point me to the RoSPA safe car seat guide, let me tell you as an engineer and a father - there is no way on earth those straps could be fitted any tighter! The seat is fitted exactly as recommended, and there is no chance we are doing anything wrong!
In America, they are allowed to use a second device to connect the chest straps, however for some reason European legislation states that a second buckle (ie. a chest strap) must not be used, as this gives a 2nd latch to be undone in case of an accident.
Let me tell you this now... I would rather spend another 30 seconds releasing a second buckle from my living child, than release my dead child quickly. This is surely common sense?
Now my child is 3 years old and should maybe be disciplined that it's not OK to do this? That's all well and good, but my child has Mosaic Down Syndrome, which means that she is a little less likely to take on board the discipline, and will go ahead and release herself anyway.
But this is not restricted to children with special needs, as I have spoken to hundreds of parents with children of all sizes and abilities that do the same thing.
So what do I propose?
A change in the legislation that allows the PARENT to decide if a chest buckle or strap can be used to give additional restraint to their child.
Of course sufficient warnings to the dangers should be defined, along with stringent safety testing to ensure that the device cannot cause harm. But I know for a fact that there are products available now in the USA that will solve this problem, but are illegal to purchase in Europe.
How can we make this change?
Well the new coalition has removed the e-petition section of the website, so in lieu of this I have created a TWITTER ACCOUNT and a FACEBOOK PAGE which you can support by becoming a fan or following.
As soon as we receive a combined following of 1,000 people, the names will be transcribed into a petition and sent to No.10
Please help me by supporting this campaign, and lets make car travel safer for kids.
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I support your campaign and understand yours and others issues however, I think you should maybe look to another solution to your current problem.
ReplyDeleteAfter much research we decided not to go for the common 5 point harness seat at all and following the 2009 Which! report (and now 2010) on car seats, went for the seat that won their safest foward facing car seat award, the Kiddy Infinity/Comfort Pro (now rebranded Energy & Guardian Pro). A body shield seat is not only far safer, according to Which and others, it will solve your current problem. If you opt for the Comfort Pro, that will see your Daughter through to age 12.
Check out www.kiddy.de for more information.
Cybex (another German company) also do a body shield seat called the Pallas and they are being sold by Mama's & Papa's in the UK.
Our son loves his Kiddy car seat and not only are they better value than most of the competitors, you only need one, as it fits in most cars.
I agree with Jonnystone. If the child is consistently trying to escape the harness, then you should opt for a harnessless car seat, such as the Cybex by Mamas & Papas Pallas. As the child's arms are not "restrained" because the impact cushion replaces the harness, the child should need feel the need to try and escape.
ReplyDeletewww.mamasandpapas.com/search/?query=cybex%20pallas
Also bear in mind that UK safety standards are higher than that of the US, so something that passes safety tests in the US are not necessarily considered safe over here. Please bear that in mind before encouraging people to buy a potentially unsafe product :(
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