Risks with Car Seats
As you can see with this extract from our video of a child escaping from their standard 5 point harness, the child is no longer restrained by the seat.
Due to the high elevation of child seats, the child is more vulnerable to serious head injury from the side window in the event of a collision or sudden braking when the child escapes from his 5 point harness.
When a child removes their shoulders from the harness, the 5 point harness effectively becomes a lap belt, with their lower abdomen taking all the strain in the event of hard braking or collision. Remember, a child can experience up to 60g of force on its body in the event of a crash at just 30mph.
The “lap belt” could result in internal injuries such as damage to the child’s liver, kidneys or even spleen. The consequences of damage may not be immediately apparent.
In addition to internal injuries, the child is further exposed to head and neck injury as the child is not held within the seat, as intended by the car seat manufacturer.
It is important to understand that children can start to slip their harness at any point. Just because they haven’t done it does not mean that they won’t. As you will see from this article, there is sufficient gap for any child to exploit to remove their harness. Accidents happen when you least expect it.
The risk of an accident increases substantially as the driver is distracted observing their child
The 5 point plus anti escape system can be retro-fitted to car seats with a 5 point harness.
Make sure your child’s car seat is fitted with the 5 point plus.
For information on how the 5 point plus works