Sadly most people are not using their children's car seats correctly

At car seat clinics across the UK from 2013 to 2017, 14,040 seats were checked. In total 67% of them were found to have errors. That means that out of every ten children who travel in cars, nearly seven are not safe. In the same five year period 69 child passengers aged between 0 and 12 were killed and 1136 children were seriously injured in car accidents.*

There are four types of car seat errors:

1. The seat is not suitable for the child's age, weight and height
   The errors that come under this category include babies in forward facing car seats, pre-schoolers in high back boosters, and children who have exceeded their seat's harness limit.
2. The seat is not compatible with the car and can't be fitted safely
   While most seats fit in most cars, sometimes a car seat is not a good fit for the car. Your buckles may be too long or too far forward, making a secure fit impossible. The seats may be too sloped making your rear facing car seat too upright for a small baby. You may be using a car seat with a support leg which the manufacturer has specified can't be used in a car with storage compartments in the floor.
3. The seat is not fitted into the car correctly
   The seat belt may not be routed through the correct belt path, the belt may not be tight enough, or not locked into the locking clip. Your infant seat's handle bar may be in the wrong position, the ISOfix base not tight enough, or the support leg not adjusted correctly.
   
4. The child is not safely secured in the seat
   The harness may be at the wrong height, twisted or not adjusted tight enough, or the seat belt may be incorrectly routed over a booster seat's horns. The newborn padding may have been removed too early, or the child may be wearing a padded winter coat. 

It is vital that you read your car seat's user manual very carefully and that you only use the seat according to the manufacturer's instructions. Try to buy your car seat from a knowledgeable trained retailer who can try the seat in your car to make sure if fits properly, and who can teach you how to install and use it correctly. It is important that every person who uses the seat knows how to use it.

Some of the most common errors

The large pictures show the correct way to fit or use the seats, the smaller pictures show some of the mistakes we see the most.

Infant seat belt routing

In an infant seat the lap belt goes over the baby's legs and the diagonal belt wraps around the back.
Some people wrap the lap belt around the back of the seat, and put the diagonal belt over the top. This routing is very dangerous and won't hold the seat in place in a crash.

Infant seat handle bar position

In most infant seats the carrying handle has to be upright to act as a roll cage or forward over the baby's feet as a rebound bar.
A lot of people don't realise that the handle bar is an important safety feature, and leave it down.

ISOfix and belt fitted bases

Some infant Group 0+ car seat bases have the option to install them with either ISOfix or the seat belt. You must choose one option, but never use both at the same time.

Harness height

It's very common for people to think that their baby's car seat straps are too low, and they move them up before the baby is tall enough. In a rear facing car seat the straps must be level with or below the shoulders, but never above.

Harness adjustment

The harness must be flat and snug across the child's body. If you can fit more than two fingers between the strap and the shoulder, it is not tight enough.
A loose harness is by far the most common error that we see.

Padded clothing and winter coats

Thick winter coats and other padded clothes such as snowsuits are too thick to wear in a car seat. Not only will your child get too hot, but more importantly it is impossible to adjust the harness tight enough over a padded coat.

Forward facing seat belt locking clips

Most forward facing Group 1 car seats have two red seat belt clips to lock the belt into place. You are however only meant to use one of them, usually on the opposite side to the buckle.
The only reason that car seats have two clips is so that you can use the seat on either side of the car, but as the sticker on the side of this seat shows, you never use both of them at the same time.

High back booster headrest height

High back boosters are designed to grow with the child from 4 to 12 years old. The bottom of the headrest should be about 1 inch above the child's shoulders. Some people aren't aware that the headrest can be moved up as the child grows and leave it in the lowest position for too long, and sometimes the headrest is much too high.

* Data collected by Good Egg Safety between 2013 and 2017