Anne Kreeb knows all about keeping her child safe.
When her daughter, Gabby, was just a year-and-a half old, they were rear-ended.
“The woman actually hit us so hard, we were at a red light, that she pushed us a few yards forward into the car in front of us and her car went underneath and lifted our’s up,” Kreeb said.
Luckily, Gabby was fine and it was thanks to the car seat.
While getting a car seat for your precious cargo is necessary, it’s also important to make sure the seat meets the needs of your child and your vehicle.
“Each seat, part of it is your preference, part of it is required,” Sgt. Steve Gaskins with the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Gaksins said the best child seat is one that fits your child, fits your car, and one you always use correctly.
“So proper installation of the seat into the car and proper installation of the child into the now secure seat, that’s what we’re looking for more than anything else,” Gaksins says.
It might seem over-whelming to pick the right one with all the different companies that manufacture car seats and all the different car designs to accommodate them.
“They have the bottom anchors. They have top tethers. So it can get kind of complex,” Gaskins said.
If that’s not enough, the laws governing car seats can get complex as well.
The big things to remember: Florida law requires children five and under be secured in a crash-tested, federally approved child seat. Children four to five also need to be secured in a booster seat.
To help put your mind at ease, you can stop by the nearest Florida Highway Patrol station and let a trained child seat installation technician double check it for you.
“We’ve actually had to go to a class and spend quite a bit of time learning which kind of seat goes into which kind of vehicle,” Gaskins said.
Also, be sure to do your research. Check your vehicle’s manual and check online to see what type of seat best matches your vehicle to best protect your child.
For more information on car seat recommendations for children, click here.