Important: Do you know how to properly install your child's car seat?

SEATTLE -- Experts say about 75% of the child car seats on the road today are improperly installed and that can lead to serious injuries. A certified technician showed us four steps to properly install a car seat to keep your family safe.

So step one of installing a car seat we always have the parents bring the car seat manual which I have here and the vehicle owner’s manual. We will read through these and check to see if there are any restrictions on seating or if there are any special instructions and we will work through that with the parent. Another thing that we check are also the labels on the car seats here. Checking the weight limits. Height limits.

Our next step, we’re going to install it now so we have to decide if we’re going to use the seat belt here or the latch system. For this particular seat we have lower anchors that we can use to install it. So that’s what I’m going to do here. All we’re listening for is a click.



On this particular vehicle you’re going to pull up here and put pressure on the seat right about where my hand is and pull up. And when you go to check for movement of a car seat you’re going to check right where it is installed. You want less than an inch of movement. That shows that it is installed tightly to the vehicle.

Our very last step is that we’re going to put the car seat in and we’re going to put the child in the seat and we’re going to tighten the harness. If we have a child sitting in here and I tighten the harness, if I go to pinch any of this webbing I shouldn’t be able to pinch any of this. That tells you the harness is tight enough on that child. Those are the basic four things we go through with parents when it comes to car seat checks.

You can call any of the following technicians for a free appointment.

In South Everett

Kim Schroeder

425-551-1254

 

In Monroe

360-794-6300

 

In Lake Stevens

Contact Jennye Cooper

425-334-9537

 

In Lynnwood

Call Cheryl Surridge

425-670-5710