Child Safety Seat Installation Is Getting Easier: LATCH
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Sample of New LATCH Seat
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The LATCH system (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) is now required in new vehicles and on new child safety seats, making installation easier and more convenient for parents and caregivers. Installing new child safety seats in new vehicles will no longer require the use of safety belts. It is expected that the expected result of more correct child safety seat installation will prevent thousands of child injuries and dozens of child deaths each year.
Background
According to Safe Kids Buckle Up Car Seat Check Up event data, 67 percent of child safety seats are installed incorrectly, placing the children they are meant to protect at greater risk of injury. This is largely because there are many different ways to install safety seats, depending on which safety belt systems are being used to anchor them. With dozens of possible combinations, parents and caregivers must determine which type of belt they are using, what part of the belt system locks a safety seat in place, and whether special installation techniques or hardware are needed.
In 1995, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recognized that child safety seats were often difficult to install, and that in some cases, compatibility issues with certain belt systems interfered with secure installation. The agency tasked the Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Restraint and Vehicle Compatibility with making installation easier and more convenient. While the panel’s immediate recommendations focused on better educational efforts, long-term recommendations centered around a uniform system for attaching child safety seats to vehicles.
Improved Head Protection for Children
In 1999, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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Top Tether Strap
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began phasing in an enhanced standard for child safety seats. Improved head protection was required for forward-facing child safety seats manufactured on or after September 1 of that year, and most manufacturers added top tether straps to meet that standard. Vehicle manufacturers were required to begin installing top tether anchors at their plants so using tether straps in new vehicles would be convenient for parents and caregivers. General Motors began offering free retrofit of tether anchors to vehicles manufactured since 1989, and some other domestic vehicle manufacturers followed suit. This was the first step toward making child safety seat installation easier and more effective.
Uniform System for Attaching Child Safety Seats to Vehicles
In 2000, vehicle standards were expanded to make anchoring the lower portion of child safety seats easier. The vehicle phase-in for Child Restraint Anchorage Systems would be complete for vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2002. In addition, most child restraints manufactured on or after September 1, 2002 are required to be compatible with that system. Child restraints are also required to continue providing systems for installation using safety belts, largely because not all parents and caregivers drive brand new vehicles.
To make the new system easier to understand and
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LATCH Clip & Anchor Connector
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communicate to the public, manufacturers and child passenger safety advocates in the United States decided to call it LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children). New cars, minivans, and light trucks are required to have lower anchor points near where the vehicle seat cushion and the vehicle seat back meet, in at least two seating positions. Top tether anchors are also required for at least three seating positions of most vehicles. New child safety seats have lower connectors that fasten to the lower vehicle anchors, and most forward-facing child safety seats include top tether straps that attach to the top tether anchors in vehicles.
Child Passenger Safety Education
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LATCH Strap Adjuster
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The newly required LATCH system will make correctly installing child safety seats easier and will help reduce installation errors. Like other installation methods, however, the LATCH system must be used correctly and safety seats must be tightly secured to vehicles. Parents and caregivers must read and follow directions in vehicle owner’s manuals and child safety seat instructions. An installed child safety seat should not move more than 1 inch from side to side or toward the front of the vehicle.
In addition, children must ride in child safety seats that are appropriate for their ages and sizes. Children must be snugly secured in their safety seats, and all safety seat features must be used as intended. Carefully following the instructions is critical! If parents and caregivers need additional assistance, they can learn about Safe Kids Buckle Up Car Seat Check Up events, permanent Child Safety Seat Inspection Stations, and other educational opportunities at www.usa.safekids.org. Parents and caregivers can also call 1-800-441-1888 for information, or contact state and local Safe Kids coalitions directly.
New Safe Kids Data Reveal Incorrect Use of Child Safety Seats Still a Major Problem in the United States.
