Study finds parents install child car seats incorrectly - NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News

Many parents rely on a child's car seat to keep their kids safe while driving, but a new study says many parents are installing the seats incorrectly.  Also, the design of some newer vehicle models work against parents.

Getting your child to come along for a ride can be pretty easy, but a study released Thursday found parents are struggling with the hardware that's supposed to keep their child safe.

"You get used to jamming your hand into the little anchor thing and getting it in there," said Allison Oyler, who knows that installing your child's car seat is part of the pains of being a parent.

Researchers, including a team from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety evaluated the anchors and tethers used to attach safety seats.  They looked at 100 vehicle models and watched people try to install them. Car seats were easy to install in only a quarter of the vehicles.

Some of the problems inspectors found was some parents had a hard time finding anchors at the back of the seat because it's buried deep into the seat.  The study also found half of the volunteers used the back tether to secure a front facing seat, many parents thought it wasn't essential

For Allison, getting that back tether is easy because her seats move forward.

"I think if my car didn't do that, I probably just wouldn't do it because I wouldn't know how maybe and then I would just hope for the best which is just sad and scary," she said.

Many fire departments say you can always go to them if you need help.

"If you can take the opportunity to have someone install it who is certified and has read up on the literature and knows exactly how to do it because safety is the key point here," says Lt. Robbie Hagaman with the Richmond Fire Department.

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