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Girl Gadgets > Car Restraints - is yours fitted correctly?
By Jaclyn Bold
December 7, 2010
By Jaclyn Bold
December 7, 2010
On Saturday 14th August 2010, MobiMech provided a free child restraint safety check at Caringbah Shopping Village. We assessed child restraints that were already fitted in customer’s vehicles and advised them on the new laws and regulations.
Our results are as follows:
* 30% of seat belts were too loose around the child restraint
* 25% of child restraint straps were fitted incorrectly
* 1 seat did not meet the Australian Standard
* 1 Seat was not secured to an anchor point
* 8% of seats were not suited to the child’s age
* Only 16% of seats checked passed inspection
Christian and Jaclyn Bold from MobiMech, an RTA Authorised child restraint fitting station at Taren Point NSW, are amazed by comments commonly heard by them that jeopardise the safety of children travelling in cars. These comments commonly include:
• $40 is too expensive to spend on installing a child seat correctly.
• Nah, they’ll (the child) will be right.
• They (the child) do not like sitting in a car seat.
• We didn’t have all these laws. They are not needed.
• They (the child) do not travel in this car very often.
Many parents choose to install their child restraints themselves rather than use an RTA Authorised fitting station. But unfortunately many of these restraints are fitted incorrectly.
It was recently reported on Channel 7 that over 900 people had been fined since the cooling off period ceased on the 30th June, for breeching safety measures in relation to child seat laws. Drivers will be fined up to $253 and lose three demerit points if their child restraints do not meet new laws.
Using a restraint that has been fitted incorrectly or is not suitable for the size of the child puts that child at greater risk of serious injury or death in a crash.
4 things you can check on your child restraint today:
1. Make sure the shoulder straps are not below your child's shoulders.
2. Make sure the seatbelt is holding the child restraint firmly to the car seat.
3. Make sure that the straps on the child restraint are not fraying or torn
4. Do you have a gated buckle/t-bar attached to your seatbelt to lock it off?
If you need to purchase any child restraint accessories phone MobiMech on 02 8544 0493 or visit www.mobimech.com.au
Jaclyn Bold is the Managing Director and Founder of MobiMech, a Female Friendly™ Accredited Mechanical and Auto Electrical Workshop. You can follow Jaclyn and MobiMech by signing up to their newsletter at www.mobimech.com.au or follow MobiMech on facebook For more information about how you can work with Jaclyn,phone her on +61 2 8544 0493 or email admin@mobimech.com.au.
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