Common Mistakes People Make When Using Car Seat LATCH Systems | DENENA | POINTS
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Common Mistakes People Make When Using Car Seat LATCH Systems

Safety experts recommend that when you use a LATCH system, to ensure secure attachment of your car seat, you do the following steps.

  • Read and follow the instructions provided by the car seat’s manufacturer.
  • Read and follow the directions provided in your car owner’s manual regarding safe attachment of child safety seats. LATCH attachments aren’t available for the center seat area of every car.
  • Use the correct LATCH belt paths when attaching the car seat your child uses. Use “rear-facing” LATCH belt paths to attach rear-facing car seats, and “forward-facing” LATCH belt paths to attach forward-facing car seats. These separate belt paths are designed to compensate for the forces of impacts in different ways, and can’t safely be used interchangeably.
  • Snap car seat hooks FIRMLY into the car’s embedded LATCH anchors, and make sure that they’re correctly connected.
  • Press the seat down FIRMLY and pull the restraint belts tight so that the car seat moves less than an inch when you tug on it. Any looseness in the belt paths strongly increases your child’s chances of injury in a Galveston car accident. You can pull the strap end of the LATCH back through the belt path to help reduce any looseness in the connections.
  • On forward-facing car seats, you should attach the car seat’s top tether to the car’s embedded top tether anchor directly behind the car seat. Pull it tight, and check for looseness and a secure connection.

Galveston injury lawyers note several things that commonly go wrong when attaching car seats using LATCH systems.

  • Using side seat LATCH anchors to install a car seat in the center seat of the back seat area. Galveston injury lawyers explain that your car may not provide for LATCH attachment in the center area of the back seat. Check your car’s owner’s manual. If your car does not provide LATCH anchors for the center seat, don’t attach your child’s car seat at the center. Using the side seat anchors to attach a car seat in the center will not provide a secure and strong attachment in the event of a Galveston car accident. Attaching the car seat in the wrong way increases a child’s chances of fatal injury in a Galveston car accident.
  • Installing a car seat using both seat belts and LATCH anchors. Use EITHER the LATCH system or the car seat belts to install your child’s car seat. Don’t use both.
  • Installing the LATCH connectors upside down.
  • Failing to follow manufacturer’s instructions about proper car seat installation and positioning. Your car may not include a LATCH system at all. If so, you can’t use LATCH. But even where the car doesn’t provide LATCH anchors, there may be a top tether that you can use for a forward-facing car seat.
  • Not using the top tether to securely anchor a forward-facing car seat.
  • Not tightening the LATCH strap when using a forward-facing car seat.
  • Using the LATCH attachments to try and secure a child’s booster seat. Combination seats and car seats with harnesses that convert to booster seats may only be able to safely use the LATCH anchors when using the harness. Be sure to check your car seat owner’s manual regarding this factor.
  • Using the top tether anchors instead of the true LATCH attachments to install a car seat.
  • Using locking clips when using the LATCH belts.

Our Galveston injury lawyers mention that car seats and LATCH attachments are actually complicated safety devices. As you might see, quite a few things could go wrong as you’re trying to install your child’s safety seat securely into place.
To complicate things further, many car seats contain small manufacturing defects that could critically affect your child’s safety in a Galveston car accident situation. Periodically, you might see recall notices from the manufacturers on some of these defects. But you might not see them before your child has been the victim of an unfortunate injury from a Galveston car accident.

If you have questions about who’s really to blame for your child’s injury in a Galveston car accident, give us a call for your free legal consultation. We’re specialized Galveston injury lawyers and we could walk you through your legal options. We could help you discover your path to financial recovery for your child’s injuries after a devastating Galveston car accident injury.