Keys? CHECK!
Wallet? CHECK!
Properly chosen, installed, and maintained car seat? LET’S TALK . . .
From packing lunches to fueling up your car, there’s a lot for parents to juggle before getting out the door and on the road. Engaged driving is the best way to avoid incidents, but using an appropriate car seat for your child is the leading defense against injuries and fatalities while traveling with kids. The problem? Car seats come in all shapes, sizes, and prices, and choosing the right one isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Throw in a growth spurt or two, and the whole process of staying up to date with child passenger safety can be an overwhelming endeavor. Shift Idaho is here to help, with a one-stop shop for information and resources on proper car seat selection, installation, fit, and maintenance.
The Hard Facts:
Car crashes account for one of the leading causes of death for children in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that among the 677 child passengers killed in crashes in 2024, 39% were not buckled up. In sum, NHTSA states, “car seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and by 54 percent for toddlers 1 to 4 years old in passenger cars.”
As a Registered Nurse and Trauma Program Manager at Idaho Falls Community Hospital, Jim Jarvie has seen firsthand the tragedies associated with improper passenger restraints.
“Using the right car seat is crucial to the safety of not just the child, but to every passenger in the vehicle,” says Jarvie. “In collisions, everything in the vehicle becomes a projectile, including improperly restrained passengers.”
From his time as an EMT to working as a flight nurse in rural Idaho, Jarvie has responded to scenes on remote dirt roads, busy intersections, and everywhere in between.
“A lot of people think every fatality happens on the interstate,” Jarvie says. “The reality is that they can happen anywhere.”
To ensure children are properly buckled up every time they hit the road, certified child passenger safety technicians offer free car seat inspections throughout the state. Technicians help check that your seat is installed correctly according to both the car seat’s manual and your vehicle’s manual. They also can help you confirm your kids are using the right seat.
“Don’t hesitate to reach out to a certified child passenger safety technician,” says Corporal Kyle Wills of the Boise Police Department. “Sometimes a quick inspection and a few simple adjustments can make a big difference. Our goal is to help parents and caregivers feel confident that they’re doing everything they can to keep their kids safe every time they get in the car.”
Which seat is right for your passenger?
A common misconception around car seats is that passengers “age out” of a certain seat and graduate to a bigger seat or forward-facing orientation. In fact, car seat selection and use should be based on a child’s WEIGHT and HEIGHT, not their birthday. Use the handy guide below to determine the right seat for your child and whether they should be rear- or forward-facing.
Use the right seat, correctly.
In addition to choosing the right seat for your child, there are a few more things to consider when guaranteeing proper fit, maintenance, and status of your car seat.
- Routinely check weight limits on car seats and newborn inserts
Knowing your child’s weight and ensuring they fall within the limits of their seat is an important step to maintaining passenger safety.
- Tips on fit: the “pinch test”
Fastening your child passenger’s harness correctly is as important as choosing the right seat. Once you’ve buckled the seat’s harness according to its specifications, with the chest clip level with the child’s armpits, use your thumb and forefinger to “pinch” the harness strap near your child’s shoulder. If there’s enough slack to make the strap fold over and touch, it’s too loose. Tighten it up!
- Proper anchors
Installing a car seat for the first time? Be sure to consult both the car seat’s instructions and your vehicle’s manual to determine the optimal anchoring system.
- Expiration dates (car seats have them!)
Just like the milk in your fridge and the battery in your vehicle, car seats have an expiration date. Ranging from 6-10 years from the date of manufacture, expiration dates account for the degradation of materials and impact-absorbing capabilities of a seat. Most car seats have an expiration date printed near the base. Tip: Make note of the date upon installation and set a reminder on your calendar for when it expires.
- Heat and/or crash damage (should you trust a hand-me-down seat?)
While hand-me-downs and borrowed equipment lighten every family’s financial burden, car seats are one element where parents should exercise serious discretion. Inheriting a car seat means you inherit the defects a seat might have accumulated during its lifetime—due to extreme heat, a crash (even a minor fender-bender), or just general wear-and-tear. A simple rule: If you don’t know the full history of the seat , don’t use it.
- Register your seat to stay informed of recalls
Registering your car seat with NHTSA and the manufacturer ensures you’ll stay up to date on recalls and remain eligible for replacements.
- Expecting a new passenger? Buy, install, and test your new seat long before the due date.
Just like painting your baby’s room or throwing a shower, selecting and installing a car seat is a fundamental step in “nesting” and preparing your home (and vehicle) for your growing family. Use the Shift dashboard technician locator (or NHTSA car seat technician locator) to find a free inspection location near you.
- Free and low-cost car seat options
Car seats can be a costly–but necessary–expense. Thankfully, the Office of Highway Safety works with local hospitals and health districts throughout the state to offer free and low-cost car seat options to families in need.
An updated list of locations offering free and low-cost car seat options.
Safety takes a village.
Without a doubt, keeping up with growing children and proper car seat arrangements can be a daunting task for parents. In addition to the information above, some of the best resources for keeping your kids safe might be right in your own neighborhood.
Mikayla Brown, Community Outreach Specialist for Mountain States Early Head Start in Coeur d’Alene, agrees that families can be a valuable educational tool for each other in the effort to be safe and prepared. Along with connecting parents with certified experts for home and vehicle safety, MSEHS encourages Idahoans to build a network of support and knowledge around their own family.
“We really focus on building a village,” says Brown. “Parents helping parents.”
From organizations like MSEHS to informal parent clubs, building your own “village” can ensure we hold each other accountable when it comes to child passenger safety, making it a community choice, not an individual one. Because after all, child passenger safety is a responsibility to not just ourselves, but to those around us–from the families we encounter on the road, to the future generations of drivers in our own back seats. So next time you’re headed out the door, take a look at your car seat or booster and ask: Am I holding up my end of the deal?
