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A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine showed that most parents ignore casr seat safety guidelines; just 3 percent of children between ages 1 and 3 who were restrained at all were sitting in a proper, rear-facing car seat, and only 10 percent of 8- to 10-year-old children were properly restrained in a booster seat or a car seat.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says 75 percent of children riding in car safety seats are not properly restrained; the car seat or booster seat is not properly installed or it does not fit the child correctly.

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, here the top five mistakes parents make installing car seats:

  • Right Seat. Check the label on your car seat to make sure it's appropriate for your child's age, weight and height.
  • Right Place. Keep children in the back seat until they are big enough to ride without a booster seat.
  • Right Direction. Your child should be in a rear-facing car seat for as long as possible, usually until around age 2.
  • Inch Test. Once your car seat is installed, give it a good shake at the base where the seat belt fits. Can you move it more than an inch side to side or front to back? A properly installed seat will not move more than an inch.
  • Pinch Test. Make sure the harness is tightly buckled and coming from the correct slots (check car seat manual). With the chest clip placed at armpit level, pinch the strap at your child's shoulder. If you are unable to pinch any excess webbing, you're good to go.

Watch this video to learn the basics of car seat safety.

Mark Bello has thirty-five years experience as a trial lawyer and thirteen years as an underwriter and situational analyst in the lawsuit funding industry. He is the owner and founder of Lawsuit Financial Corporation which helps provide legal finance cash flow solutions and consulting when necessities of life litigation funding is needed by a plaintiff involved in pending, personal injury, litigation. Bello is a Justice Pac member of the American Association for Justice, Sustaining and Justice Pac member of the Michigan Association for Justice, Member of Public Justice and Public Citizen, Business Associate of the Florida, Mississippi, Connecticut, Texas, and Tennessee Associations for Justice, and Consumers Attorneys of California, member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan and the Injury Board.

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