Child Safety Seats

• Lake Oswego Clinic Schedule
• Booster Seats
• Oregon Child Seat Law

The Lake Oswego Fire Department and the Lake Oswego Police Department hold free quarterly safety seat clinics open to all citizens.

Location: 300 B Avenue, Lake Oswego, OR

The complete schedule for 2012 is:

• February 4, 2012   (Saturday), 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• May 5, 2012           (Saturday), 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• August 4, 2012      (Saturday), 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• November 3, 2012 (Saturday), 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Please check the Child Safety Seat Resource Center clinic calendar for more clinic dates throughout the State.

All events are held at the Main Fire Station at 300 B Avenue, at the corner of Third and B. Call 503-635-0275 during regular business hours for more information on the clinics.

Click to visit: The Alliance for Community Traffic Safety in Oregon for more child seat safety information.

To set up an appointment or to get more safety information locally, call or write:

Child Safety Seat Resource Center
8059 SW Cirrus Dr.
Beaverton, OR 97008
503-643-5620 or 1-800-772-1315
safety@actsoregon.org

Here are a few safety seat rules to follow, as suggested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

Does the child ride facing the right way?

Infants should ride in rear-facing restraints, preferably in the back seat, until about age 1 and at least 20 to 22 pounds. Infants who weigh 20 pounds before 1 year of age should ride in a restraint approved for higher rear-facing weights. Always read the child restraint owner manual for instructions on properly using the restraint.

Children over age 1 and at least 20 pounds may ride facing forward.

Does a child over 40 pounds have the best protection possible?

Keep the child in a safety seat with a full harness as long as possible, at least until he or she weighs 40 pounds. At that point, change to a belt-positioning booster seat, which helps the adult lap and shoulder belt fit better.

A belt-positioning booster seat is preferred for children between 40 to 80 pounds. Check on special products for heavy children who are too active to sit still in a booster.

How should a safety belt fit an older child?

The child must be tall enough to sit without slouching, with knees bent at the edge of the seat and feet on the floor. The lap belt must fit low and tight across the upper thighs. The shoulder belt should rest over the shoulder and across the chest. Never put the shoulder belt under the arm or behind the child’s back. The adult lap and shoulder belt system alone will not fit most children until they are at least 4' 9" tall and weigh about 80 pounds.

Remember: One Person, One Belt

A child should never be held on an adult's lap because the grownup could crush him or her in a collision. Even if the adult wears a safety belt, the child would be torn from his or arms in a crash. A parent should also never wrap a shoulder harness or seat belt around a child on the adult's lap. Two people with one belt around them could injure each other.

The cargo area of a station wagon, van, or pickup is a very dangerous place for anyone to ride. Anyone riding in the bed of a pickup truck, even under a canopy, could be thrown out.

Does the car have an air bag for the front passenger seat?

An infant or child could be seriously injured or killed by an inflating air bag. A passenger air bag can seriously harm a child riding in the front seat of the car. Many new cars have air bags for the right front seat. Air bags work with lap/shoulder belts to protect teens and adults. To check whether the vehicle has air bags, look for a warning label on the sun visor or the letters "SRS" or "SIR" embossed on the dashboard. The owner’s manual will also verify this.An inflating passenger air bag can kill a baby in a rear-facing safety seat. An air bag also can be hazardous for children age 12 and under who ride facing forward. This is especially true if the child is not properly buckled up in a safety seat, booster seat, or lap and shoulder belt.In a crash, the air bag inflates very quickly. It would hit a rear-facing safety seat hard enough to kill a baby. Infants must ride in the back seat, facing the rear.If there is no room in the back and no other alternative, a child over age one may have to ride in front and facing forward. Make sure the child is correctly buckled up for his or her age and size and that the vehicle seat is moved as far back as possible. Fasten the harness snugly, and make sure a child using a lap and shoulder belt does not lean toward the dashboard. Read the vehicle owner’s guide about the air bags in the car.

Booster Seats

Position Children Correctly for Safe Travel

Children up to 40 pounds are safest traveling in child safety seats with a harness system.When they move into the vehicle seat belt system, they may not fit. According to the Standardized Child Passenger Safety Training Program a "lap belt is the least desirable type of seat belt because it does not provide upper body restraint." Lap/shoulder belts provide more protection but they must be worn correctly. In the new Child Passenger Safety Law effective January 1, 2002, "proper fit" means the lap belt of the safety belt or safety harness is positioned low across the thighs and the shoulder belt is positioned over the collarbone and away from the neck. For children over 40 pounds, a booster seat helps position the child for safe travel.

What is a booster seat?
A booster seat is made for older children when they are too big for a car seat but still not big enough to safely use the adult seat belt. It sits on the seat of the vehicle and raises a child up so the car's seat belt will fit properly.

Why does my child need to ride in a booster seat?
In a crash, a child who is too small for the seat belt can be ejected from the belt. Booster seats keep seat belts where they do the most good. The lap belt should sit at the top of the thighs, not on the stomach. The shoulder belt needs to go across the shoulder and chest, not the face or neck. If it's tucked under the child's arm or behind the back, the child's body will fly forward in a crash.

When does my child need to use a booster seat?
Start to use a booster seat when your child outgrows the forward facing car seat with a harness. This happens when the shoulders are above the top set of strap slots and/or when the child weighs about 40 pounds.Keep using a booster seat until your child is at least 8 years old and 80 pounds. Then they can be moved to a seat belt.

To see if the seat belt will fit your child, try the following test.*

• Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat? Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat? Does the lap belt fit snugly across the top of the thighs? Does the shoulder belt come across the center of the shoulder and chest?
• Can the child sit like this for the whole trip?

If you answer "no" to any of these questions, your child needs to ride in a booster seat.
*Used with permission from SafetyBeltSafe USA. Booster Seat Flyers
You can download booster seat flyers for your use.

More information on booster seats is available on these web sites:
www.carseat.org  SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A.– Safe Ride Helpline Online
www.safekids.org  National SAFE KIDS Campaign
www.depts.washington.edu/booster Washington State Booster Seat Coalition
www.boostamerica.org Ford Boost America! Program

Child Safety Seat law

Oregon Law

Oregon law assists drivers in the decision of how to properly restrain and
protect children in motor vehicles. When children are properly restrained it
significantly decreases the severity of injuries and number of fatalities that
occur in a crash. The recent amendments to Oregon's law now reflect national
best practice.

Changes to the law include:

• Infants must ride rear facing until they are one year old and twenty pounds.
  Before children can ride forward facing, they must meet both of these benchmarks.
  
• Once a child has reached a minimum of forty pounds they must be properly
  secured in a booster seat until they are eight years old or are taller then four
  feet nine inches.
  
• After a child is age eight or older, or they are at least four feet nine inches
  they must be secured properly with the safety belt system.

The law continues to require:
Children over one year old and between twenty and forty pounds must be properly
secured with a forward facing child restraint up to a minimum of forty pounds or the
upper weight limit of the seat.

The changes to the law amend ORS 811.210 and 811.215. These reformations to
the law were created with the safety of Oregon's children as a priority. Questions can
be directed to ACTS Oregon's Child Safety Seat Resource Center: 503-643-5620 or
800-772-1315.