Car Seat Basics

Correctly installing a child safety seat can be challenging. The resources below are designed to help you learn how to select and correctly install the best seat for your child and vehicle, and how to correctly secure your child into the safety seat.

Choosing and Using a Car Seat

 Choosing

• Car Safety Seats Guide for Families (American Academy of Pediatrics)
  AAP recommendations based on the peer-reviewed literature available at the time of its publication, and sets forth some of the factors that parents should consider before selecting and using a car safety seat.
• NHTSA Child Safety Seat Ease of Use Ratings
  Information about child safety seat features to help parents and caregivers find the right child safety for their needs.
• Car Seat Recall List  
  It is very important to pay attention to recall notices and to check if car seats need to be repaired or replaced. This list will show recalls issued for any failure to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213.

Using a Car Seat

• Are You Using It Right? (NHTSA)
  ¿Lo Está Usando Correctamente?
  Identify and learn how to correct common mistakes when installing a child restraint and securing your child in the restraint. Making the right connections will help improve overall protection for your child.
• Keeping Kids Safe During Crashes
  Cómo mantener a los niños fuera de peligro durante los choques
  Short movies and detailed information on installing and using child safety seats, booster seats and seat belts. Developed by Partners for Child Passenger Safety

Getting Help From Your Local CPS Programs-

Individual education to safely install and use your car seat

 According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research, 8,325 lives have been saved by the proper use of child restraints during the past 30 years.  However, NHTSA has found that three out of four child safety seats are improperly installed.  Failure to read the child safety seat instructions, in addition to vehicle owner manual instructions regarding installation, could result in serious injury or death as a result of a failure of the child safety seat to be securely or properly restrained.  To help parents and caregivers to properly secure their children the Vehicle Occupant Safety Program (VOSP) has identified the following organizations that provide child safety seat fitting stations throughout the state. These stations provide assistance to parents by offering certified safety seat technicians to check their seats (and some offer low cost car seats) either through appointments and/or specific check up days each week or month.  Some stations offer bi-lingual services.

 Listed below are links to organizations that provide these services:

• Who's Got Car Seats?  A list of CPS programs and services in California by county, which also includes the contact information for the CPS Coordinator in every local health department.  Check to see which organizations provide car seat inspection services.
• (SAFE KIDS Coalitions and Chapters - educational materials, car seat distribution programs, child safety seat installation, and CPS training.
• California Highway Patrol Area Offices - Locations that provide information and car seat inspection services.
• NHTSA Child Safety Seat Inspection Locator  - Locations that provide information about local CPS services and car seat inspection services.
•  AAA - Locations that provide information and car seat inspection services.

Educational Materials

Posters and Charts

"Important Changes" - California Car Seat Safety Law Poster - January 2012 

• English
• English, B&W
• Spanish
• Spanish, B&W
• Arabic

• Chinese
• Farsi
• Hmong
• Punjabi
• Vietnamese

Best Practice

• A National Strategy - Increasing Booster Seat Use for 4- to 8-Year-Old Children October 2002
• Best Practices for Promoting Booster Seat Use – A How-To Guide Based on Community Demonstration Projects
• BoosterSeat.gov
• Partners for Child Passenger Safety  
• SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A.
• SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A Español
• Growth Chart
• Updated Car Seat Recommendations - American Academy of Pediatrics
• Car Seat Listings - American Academy of Pediatrics

Brochures and Factsheets

• Are You Using It Right? (NHTSA)
• Keeping Your Kids Safe In and Around Cars
• Cuide a sus Ninos Dentro, Fuera o Alrededor de los Vehiculos
• Child Transportation Safety Tips
• Lista de Revisión de un Minuto para Asientosde Seguridad
  One page fact sheets with diagrams

Educational Videos

• SAFE KIDS Worldwide – Materials Catalog
• Shelness Productions – Don’t Risk Your Child’s Life – 7th Edition (English, Spanish, Russian)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 

• SAFE KIDS Buckle UP FAQ
• SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. FAQ
• Frequently Asked Questions about side-impact air bags

More CPS Public Education and Campaign Materials

• AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
• BoosterSeat.gov
• Buckle Up America
• Kids N' Cars
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
• NHTSA Materials Catalog
• NHTSA Multicultural Outreach Program
• National SafeKids Campaign Resource Catalog
• National Safety Council
• Safe Ride News
• SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A