Fall 2002 Volume Six Number One

• Protecting Your Most Important Passenger
—New car seat recommendations for infants and children.

Anyone who has tried to install a child’s safety seat knows it can be a confusing task. Because of this, 80 percent of child safety seats are used incorrectly.

With so many different car models and safety seat configurations, each vehicle can have a different seat belt system and each safety seat can have a different method of installation.

But now there’s a way to make something that’s so important for your child easier for you. It’s called the LATCH system.

It is designed to help eliminate some of the guesswork involved in installing a child’s car seat.

The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards regulate infant and child protection devices for cars. LATCH is the newest standard to be implemented.
The intent of LATCH is to allow child restraints (car safety seats) to be installed without using the vehicle seat belt system. All vehicles will have standard anchors in the vehicle seat to which child restraints can be attached using permanent hardware on the restraint.

All passenger vehicles made after September 1, 2002, must have the LATCH system. There was a phase-in period, so some vehicles made before this date will also have anchors.

In your car, the LATCH system consists of two lower anchors and one upper anchor (tether). The lower anchors are small metal bars located where the car seat back meets the lower seat cushion. The upper anchor can be a bar, bracket or fabric webbing strap located behind the seat.

Most anchors are marked with a symbol. Check your vehicle owner’s manual for more information about where the anchors are located.
On your child’s safety seat, the LATCH system consists of two lower permanent attachments at the base of the car seat and one upper attachment. The lower attachments are made to snap or hook into the anchors in the vehicle seat. They may be rigid attachments or flexible straps.

The upper attachment is a strap that snaps or hooks into the upper anchor. (The tether is not used in the rear facing seat position except for a few specific models.)

The vehicle owner’s manual will indicate whether or not the vehicle has any anchors. It also will state whether the vehicle can be retrofitted with any anchors.

In addition, child car seats made on or after September 1, 2002 must have the LATCH system. The requirement for the tether has been in effect since September 1999. Restraints with LATCH will continue to have the ability to use the seat belt system when necessary.

In addition, some older car seats have LATCH strap kits available through the manufacturer.

Being an advocate for proper child car seat use, my hope is that with education, training and innovations like LATCH, we will see 80 to 100 percent correct use rather than misuse.

Please refer to your vehicle owners manual and child restraint manual for proper installation of any child restraint. Have your first child restraint installation checked by a certified Child Passenger Safety (CPS) technician if possible.

Call toll-free 1-866-seatcheck to find a seat-check event near you or log onto www.seatcheck.org. For a state-wide list of car seat checkup events log on to www.buckleupkids.state.mn.us

Other helpful web sites include:

www.chop.edu/car seat (Partners for Child Passenger Safety—includes video clips about car restraint use as well as other usage information).
www.carseatdata.org (Can post questions and get information from other parents).

www.nhtsa.dot.gov (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration—child passenger safety laws, types of safety seats, safety seat registration forms (used for recall notices), safety seat recalls and many other useful topics).

—Tammy Swing, LPN,
Child Passenger Safety Technician
Medical Policy Coordinator