Keep Kids Safe In Cars

Transcript

KEEP KIDS SAFE IN CARS Whakamaua te whiitiki – Buckle them in! New Zealand Police is committed to keeping all children safe in and around cars. We are proud to be able to support Plunket in working to protect and nurture all children, all of the time. Our record of improving road safety is one of which we are justifiably proud but there is always more we can do. We want to extend our efforts to rigorously improve child safety in all areas but in particular, to reduce the risks to children in and around vehicles at all times. This booklet provides important support, information and recommendations. It will help parents and caregivers understand their responsibilities and provides practical help and advice in ensuring all New Zealand children are safe in cars. Please take the time to read it. Car seats save lives! Superintendent Paula Rose National Manager Road Policing New Zealand Police 2011 Whakamaua te whiitiki – Buckle them in! 4 Each year in New Zealand many children die or are seriously injured in car crashes when not buckled up in a child restraint. Car seats save lives! FACT. In a crash or sudden stop a child restraint that is correctly used will give the best possible protection to a child. FACT. Holding a baby or child in your arms will not protect them in a sudden stop or crash. FACT. Most crashes happen close to home, yet it is on these trips that many children aren’t buckled into restraints. Care for our children, they are precious. This booklet gives you information to help make the right choices to best protect your children in vehicles. Tiakina a tatou tamariki, mokopuna. Whakamaua te whiitiki – Buckle them in! 1 Choosing the right restraint can be confusing. Restraints vary so you need to decide which one is going to be best for your child. Infant capsule Convertible seat (Rear-facing and forward-facing) Which restraint for my child? The restraints shown above are some of the types available. Look for a restraint that suits your child’s age, weight and height. Check in the instruction manual or on labels on the seat. Make sure the restraint fits in your vehicle. The shape of the restraint and the shape of your vehicle seat may mean some restraints will fit better than others. Then before you buy or hire the restraint try your child in it. Make sure you are happy with the features. Whakamaua te whiitiki – Buckle them in! 2 Forward-facing/booster seat Booster seat (with back) You need a restraint that you are confident you can install and use correctly for every trip. Try the restraint in your vehicle. The back seat is safest. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and check: 3 the vehicle safety belt is long enough to install the restraint; 3 the restraint when installed sits firmly on the vehicle seat. Ask for advice from a child restraint technician at Plunket, your rental scheme or your retailer. 3 Booster seat (without back) To keep baby safe from their first car ride, hire or buy a car seat before baby is born. A Car restraints for babies Pregnancy An unborn baby needs protection too. Wearing a safety belt protects both you and your baby. Wear the lap part of the safety belt over your thighs and below your baby. A Wear the sash part of the safety belt over your shoulder, between your breasts and above your baby. Infant capsule If you choose to hire a restraint, Plunket, community groups, and some retailers have restraints available. It is strongly recommended that baby stay rear-facing until two years old or until they outgrow their rear-facing restraint. Rear-facing provides best protection in a crash. Whakamaua te whiitiki – Buckle them in! 4 C B Before you buy or hire the restraint ask about the features of the different restraints. Try several models in your vehicle, some restraints will fit better than others. Read the manufacturer’s instructions and install the restraint correctly to make sure you get a tight fit. Installing an infant capsule you must always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. B WHERE? Back seat is safest. Never put a rear-facing car seat in the front if there is an airbag in the dash, baby is at risk of serious injury if the airbag inflates. Even if there is no airbag in the front baby is safer in the back. HOW? The restraint for your baby always faces to the back of the vehicle. This means baby is looking towards the back window. Make sure you have buckled the vehicle safety belt tightly. Your restraint may come 5 1 See page 10 for more details. 2 See page 11 for more details. D with a locking clip 1 also LATCH or ISOFIX is an alternative installation found on some restraints 2. C If the restraint has a tether strap for use when rear-facing tighten this once the vehicle safety belt is buckled 1. D Place baby in the restraint with the harness over baby’s shoulders, buckle the harness making sure it is ‘clicked’ tight. The harness should be comfortable but firm against baby. You should only be able to fit one finger between baby and the harness. Place a blanket over baby once the harness is on and the buckle done up. Your baby will have outgrown their infant capsule when they are over the maximum weight recommended and/or their head is almost at the top. Baby’s feet over the end isn’t a reason to move baby out of the seat. Once baby is around two years old or has outgrown their infant capsule it is time to move to a forward-facing restraint. A Restraints for young children Ideally you will have used a restraint that allows for rear-facing until your baby is two years old. Before you buy or hire the restraint ask about the features of the different restraints. Try several models in your vehicle. Some restraints will fit better in your vehicle than others. Read the instructions and install the seat correctly to make sure you get a tight fit. Ask for advice from a child restraint technician at Plunket, your rental scheme or your retailer. Installing the restraint you must follow the manufacturer’s instructions. WHERE? Back seat is safest. If there is an airbag in the dash place the car seat in the back. Even if there is no airbag in the front your child is safer in the back. HOW? Place the restraint on the vehicle seat. Whakamaua te whiitiki – Buckle them in! 6 C B Put the vehicle safety belt through the restraint. A Placing your weight in the seat will help get a tight fit. B Buckle the vehicle safety belt tightly. Your child restraint may have come with a locking clip 1. If the restraint has a tether strap tighten this once the vehicle safety belt is buckled 1. LATCH or ISOFIX is an alternative installation found on some restraints 2. C 7 HOW? Place your child in the restraint with the shoulder harness coming through level with or slightly above the child’s shoulders. Buckle the harness making sure it is ‘clicked’ tight. 1 See page 10 for more details. 2 See page 11 for more details. Tighten the harness so it is comfortable but firm against your child. You should only be able to fit one finger between your child and the harness. To keep your child safe, use this restraint until your child outgrows it. Your child has outgrown their restraint when any one of the following occurs: • • • they are over the maximum weight recommended; their eye level is higher than the back of the restraint; the shoulder harness is in the top slots and having to come up and over the shoulders more than 25mm. Use a booster seat once your child has outgrown their child restraint. A Car safety for older children Booster Seats Booster seats can be full booster seats with a back, or a half booster seat with no back. Some forward-facing child restraints also convert to a booster seat by removing the harness system in the restraint. A booster seat lifts a child up so the vehicle safety belt is positioned correctly against them. A Always use a booster seat with a lap/sash safety belt, never with a lap belt on its own, as there is nothing holding the child’s upper body back in a sudden stop or crash. The diagonal portion of the safety belt goes over the shoulder, not against the neck. The lap portion of the safety belt sits low touching the thighs. The booster seat should allow the safety belt to sit snugly against your child. Whakamaua te whiitiki – Buckle them in! 8 B B C The back seat of the vehicle is the safest place for a booster seat How long should my child stay in a booster seat? Until their eye level is above the back of the booster seat, vehicle seat or headrest or… They are tall enough to sit on the vehicle seat correctly: 3 right back without slouching; 3 with the lap belt remaining low touching the top of the thighs; 3 sash belt across the shoulder, not the neck; 3 they can stay seated correctly positioned for the whole trip. Many children will be around 148cm tall before they can move from their booster seat. 9 The Child Safety Harness A child safety harness is a restraint that can be useful to restrain a child safely. It anchors into the vehicle like the tether on a child restraint and uses the vehicle safety belt. C A child safety harness can be used in combination with a booster seat or on its own with the child sitting on the vehicle seat. Tether straps connect the restraint to an anchor in the vehicle. The locking clip is a bracket that holds the vehicle safety belt tightly. A B Tether straps and locking clips A If a restraint has a tether strap always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. What does a tether strap do? A tether strap prevents forward and some sideways movement of the restraint in a sudden stop or crash. The less movement of the restraint the less movement of the baby or child. B Has my vehicle got tether anchor points? Check the vehicle manual, it will show where anchor points are located. Some vehicles have anchors already fitted. A garage or vehicle dealership can help you. Installing tether anchors Follow instructions in the vehicle manual and follow the restraint manual instructions. Ask a garage or vehicle dealership for help with installation if you are at all unsure. Whakamaua te whiitiki – Buckle them in! 10 C E D Using a tether strap. Once the safety belt is through the restraint attach the tether strap to the anchor. safety belt system your vehicle has. Some vehicle safety belt systems hold the restraint firmly without a locking clip. Tighten the tether (firmly but not too tight) once the vehicle safety belt is tightened through the restraint. Tether extensions and extra tether anchors can be purchased from retailers and some car seat hire outlets. Positioning a locking clip. The restraint manual will demonstrate the position for the locking clip. What is a locking clip? A locking clip (H-clip) is a metal or plastic bracket that holds the vehicle safety belt tightly through the restraint and helps prevent it moving around. Locking clips are supplied with some restraints. LATCH or ISOFIX C Do I need to use a locking clip? Read the restraint manual to see the type of safety belt systems it suggests using a locking clip with. Read the vehicle manual to check the type of 11 Close to the safety belt latch plate is the usual position for the locking clip. D E LATCH or ISOFIX is an alternative installation found on some restraints. LATCH or ISOFIX points are required on both the vehicle and the child restraint. Check both your vehicle manual and restraint manual to see if you can install this way. A restraint that has LATCH or ISOFIX can still be installed in the conventional way using the vehicle safety belt. If purchasing a second-hand car restraint there are important questions that you need to ask. Second-hand restraints Old seats may not provide the best protection for your child in a crash or sudden stop. It is strongly recommended that if possible you avoid purchasing a second-hand restraint. Before purchasing a second-hand restraint ask if the seat has ever been in a crash, even a minor one. If so, don’t buy it. Check: 3 the seat isn’t too old – between 6 to 10 years is the maximum life for most seats; 3 the seat has an instruction manual; 3 the harness has no fraying, fading, or appears stretched; 3 the plastic shell has no cracks; 3 the buckle and harness adjustor work well. Ask for advice from a child restraint technician at Plunket, your rental scheme or your retailer. Whakamaua te whiitiki – Buckle them in! 12 New Zealand law requires that all children under 5 years of age are properly restrained in an approved child restraint appropriate for their age and weight. The law in New Zealand Children over 5 but under 8 years of age must be in an approved child restraint if there is one available. If no restraint is available they must use the adult safety belt. Children over 8 but under 15 years of age must use a safety belt if one is available, otherwise travel in the rear seat. Exempt from this legislation are: • vintage cars (pre 1955) with no safety belts; • Passenger Service Vehicles including taxis and shuttles; • trucks with unloaded weight exceeding 2000kg. Penalty for non-compliance with the law is a $150 fine for each unrestrained child in a vehicle. Driver responsibility. It is the driver’s responsibility to ensure each child under 15 years of age is correctly restrained. Child restraint standards. All child restraints sold in New Zealand must meet an approved standard. Approved standards are: • Australia/NZ Standard AS/NZS 1754, shown with 5 ticks; • European Standard (ECE 44) with an ‘E’ mark; • United States Standard FMVSS 213 which must also carry the ‘S’ mark to show it has been certified for use in NZ; • technical standard for child restraints (Japan). This applies to in-built child restraints in Japanese vehicles. Plunket Look under ‘Plunket’ in the phone book for a rental scheme near you or check the website www.plunket.org.nz or email child restraint queries to [email protected] Where to go for help NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) For general child restraint information go to www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/students-parents /child-restraints.html or email [email protected] or Phone 0800 822 422 Ministry of Transport For child restraint statistics go to www.transport.govt.nz Safekids NZ For information about child restraints go to www.safekids.org.nz Whakamaua te whiitiki – Buckle them in! 14