What the RCMP wants you to know about installing car seats

Prince District RCMP issued an impassioned news release last week about proper use of car seats to ensure child safety.

It was penned by Staff Sgt. Derrick Hewitt, who has been to a number of motor vehicle collisions involving kids in car seats over the years.

Hewitt said in one case, a young girl was improperly placed in the front seat, with the shoulder belt behind the car seat, and was thrown out of the vehicle. She is now a paraplegic.

"It's very traumatic, especially seeing it's avoidable. If she had been put in the back, in the proper child seat, this wouldn't have happened," Hewitt said.

Car seat laws

P.E.I.'s car seat laws say infants up to 22 pounds must sit in a rear-facing car seat for at least their first year.

Children more than a year old weighing 22 to 40 pounds may ride in a forward-facing seat.

Booster seats are for children who weigh 40 pounds or more, are younger than nine and shorter than four feet, nine inches tall.

"The recommendation is you keep that child in that seat for as long as you can and then allow them to graduate to the next seat," Hewitt said.

'Your child's safety'

Car seats should be installed by a professional, either at a car shop or by someone knowledgeable about it, Hewitt said, and there are also markings in the vehicle. 

"It's your child's safety we're talking about."

Too much give in the car seat can indicate it hasn't been done properly, he said.

"If there's slack and you can move it around — anything above an inch of movement — then it's not properly installed."

Don't use an expired car seat

Car seats have the expiry date on the bottom, either on a sticker or imprinted on the seat itself, Hewitt said.

"It gives you basically a six-year period that you can use the car seat."

If a car seat is in an accident, never use it again, Hewitt said.

He also advises against buying second-hand car seats, but if you must, check the expiry date and ensure it hasn't been in an accident.

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