A video has revealed the dangers of allowing your child to wear a thick coat in their car seat. The jackets can create a gap between seat belt and child leaving them in danger in the event of a car crash. This means that the harness may not be close enough to the child’s body to properly restrain them.
Parents are being urged to remove heavy winter coats before putting their child in their car seat. Parents are also advised to do the harness up tightly enough that they can only just get two fingers between their child and the straps.
Good Egg Car Safety has suggested tucking a blanket around your child above the harness as a safe alternative to a jacket. You can find out more about child safety on the Good Egg Car Safety blog.
A spokesman said: “We are the leading car seat checking initiative in the UK and this year we have checked nearly 3,500 car seats for parents and found that across the UK 71 per cent are incorrectly fitted. Since 2001 we have checked over 23,500 seats. We work with Scottish Government, Road Safety GB, Brake, TRL and many other leading road safety organisations.”