Carmarthenshire advice on car seats

A worrying three-quarters of car seats in Carmarthenshire are wrongly fitted, according to safety checks.
Child car seats across the county were inspected as part of Child Safety Fun Days organised by the council’s Road Safety Unit at Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthen, Amman Valley and Llanelli leisure centres.
A total of 250 seats were checked over the four days and road safety officers found that 75 per cent were fitted incorrectly.
Of those, 30 had major faults, seven were incompatible with the car and two seats had to be condemned.
The aim of the events was to raise awareness of the risks to babies and children if seats are not fitted properly. It is also against the law not to have the correct child restraint.
Parents and guardians were given expert advice and warned about the dangers of using second-hand car seats.
Road Safety Manager Keith Griffiths said: “The safest way for young children to travel in cars is in a child seat that is suitable for their weight and size as well as the vehicle concerned. Even in a minor crash, an unrestrained child would be thrown about inside the vehicle, injuring themselves and others. They could also be thrown from the car through one of the windows.”
Last year, 82 per cent of car seats checked were fitted incorrectly.
“There is a slight improvement this year, but it is not good enough” added Mr Griffiths, “it is clear that parents are not regularly checking their seats, and unfortunately, this can lead to tragic accidents.”
Grandmother Mary Davies went along to Amman Valley Leisure Centre to have her grandaughter Carys’s seat checked.
She said: “We couldn’t adjust the straps and as she is getting older it was getting too tight.
“We have now found that there is actually a fault with the seat so we will have to contact the manufacturer.”
Mrs Davies was able to borrow a car seat from the event to get Carys home safely.
“I think it is really good,” she added. “We didn’t know there was a problem or we would have done something sooner.”
Llwynhendy mum-of-two Catherine Williams wanted to check she had the right car seat for her youngest daughter Ffion, aged three.
She said: “Ffion is quite tall but very light for her age so I wanted to check I had the right type of seat and that it was fitted correctly. I think it is a brilliant event.”
Partner agencies and businesses also attended the fun days including the Community Safety Partnership, Flying Start, Dyfed-Powys Police, the RNLI, Western Power, Real Nappies, and Pure Baby Organics.
As well as learning about road safety, children were able to meet Gari Gosafe, Sali Mali, Postman Pat, and Scarlets players. There was magic and fun with Mr Tricks the clown and a bouncy castle. There was also free family swimming on completion of the car seat check.
For further information on child car seats contact the Carmarthenshire County Council’s Road Safety Unit on 01267 224346.
You can also visit www.childcarseats.org.uk for information and advice including the law and your responsibility as a driver.
Facts:
• An unrestrained child can be killed in an impact at speeds as low as 5mph.
• If properly restrained, a child is three times less likely to sustain a head injury in a collision that an unrestrained child.
• It takes less than a fifth of a second for an unrestrained child to be catapulted through a car window in a collision at only 30mph.