The Road Safety Authority has been running a campaign throughout the country to get people to check their child car seats are correctly fitted. The results are worrying. Four out of five seats still require "major" readjustment. This means they represent the danger of a "major impact" in the event of a crash.
The RSA's target for seat checking is 10,000 this year and it looks like that figure will be exceeded. Parents and other drivers have been invited to Toyota garages and Supervalu outlets around the country and, already, more than 4,600 have done so.
However, the figures for incorrect fitting remain stubbornly high. Inspectors have found the vast majority of car seats are not fitted properly and four out of five would lead to a major impact in a crash situation - something that is entirely avoidable.
Two per cent of the seats examined were deemed absolutely dangerous and "condemned" as not fit for purpose.
The RSA's senior road safety promotion officer, Aisling Leonard, says the current campaign is aimed at all drivers and they don't have to be Toyota drivers or Supervalu customers. She points out that some 25,000 cars have been checked by the RSA inspectors since 2013.
"We categorise the inspection into four categories. A major adjustment means there is a risk of a major impact in the event of a crash, minor adjustments simply mean some tweaking is necessary, incompatible means the seat may not suit the car and condemned means the seat is not fit for purpose".
She says the figures for seats requiring major adjustment is down to a number of reasons.
"While we are seeing more people pay more attention to fitting car seats, there is an element of: if it looks OK, it is OK. These seats need to be adjusted and people really should be checking them every month. A slacking factor comes in and adjustment is needed and especially as child gets older. Some people think it is fine to leave a car seat they way it was fitted for five years. That is not the case. Others are nervous that if a seat was fitted by an expert it is not a good idea to try to adjust it".
"Ideally we would like to see the figures reversed in balancing the need for minor adjustments far outweighing the numbers needing major adjustments."
In total, 14 children under the age of 15 died on Irish roads last year - 36.7% of all child deaths in Ireland as a whole, according to the RSA. Of those 14 killed, seven were pedestrians and seven were passengers.
Last year saw a five-fold increase in the numbers of children killed on our roads since 2012 when fatalities were at a record low of just three.
Dr. Paddy Fitzpatrick, a consultant at the emergency department of Temple Street Hospital in Dublin, said in his personal experience "devastating" injuries as a result of car accidents were reducing he still saw the evidence of incorrectly fitted child seats regularly. "The number of children who are completely unrestrained seems to be decreasing but a high proportion of seats are still incorrectly fitted.
In a crash at just 50km/h, a child not wearing a seatbelt or using a child car seat would be thrown forward with a force 30 to 60 times their body weight. They would be thrown about inside the vehicle, injuring themselves and, quite possibly, seriously injuring or even killing other people inside the vehicle.
They are also likely to be ejected from the car through one of the windows.
Chair of the RSA and former TD Liz O’Donnell said recently:
"We have to treat our children like precious cargo when carrying them as passengers in cars; there is no room whatsoever for complacency or exceptions – no matter how short the trip".
Here is an AA video on the correct way to fit car seats:
Visit the RSA's Check it Fits website for more information.
