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Child seats should be
attached to rear seat

Question: I read the story of the precious 10-month-old baby girl who died following a head-on collision of two vehicles near Waimea Bay last week. The story related that she was restrained in a proper car seat; however, the seat was attached to the front passenger seat. Can you please remind your readers that a child restraint seat should always be attached to the rear seats of their vehicles? It is preferable to attach the seat to the center portion of the rear seats. If that is not possible, attachment should be made securely to either side rear seat. I am so sorry for the baby's family and certainly do not want to place blame or guilt on them. I'm sure they would not want their tragedy to be repeated.

Answer: The state's "child passenger restraints" law requires children under 4 years old to be placed in a federally approved carrier when riding in a vehicle (except for emergency, commercial or mass transit vehicles), but does not specify where the carriers should be placed.

However, experts do recommend they be placed in the back, if possible.

Because the case is under investigation, the Honolulu Police Department declined to confirm where in the car the 10-month-old baby was riding at the time of the accident.

But generally speaking, it is "good practice" for parents to have any child under the age of 12 placed in the back seat, especially if there is an airbag in the front passenger's position, said HPD spokesman Capt. Frank Fujii.

In fact, because of the speed and velocity of deployed air bags, it is advisable for petite or small adults to ride in the back seat, as well, he said.

We asked Nola Faria, a registered nurse at Kapiolani Medical Center who is a certified child passenger technician and instructor, for advice on the use of child restraint seats.

She first reiterated Fujii's recommendation that any child under the age of 12 ride in the back seat.

For children under the age of 1 and under 20 pounds, the recommendation is that they be placed rear-facing in an appropriate car seat, and, if possible, in the center back position, considered the "safest location."

However, Faria noted that it's not always possible to place the seat in the center, so placing it on either side is acceptable. Just make sure to follow the manufacturer's instruction about installation.

A child between 1 and 4 years of age, weighing more than 20 pounds, can be placed in a forward-facing seat with an internal, preferably five-point, harness, Faria said.

There are rear-facing car seats for children up to 30 to 35 pounds. So, rather than transferring children to forward-facing seats as soon as they turn 1 year old, the recommendation is to keep them in rear-facing seats as long as possible, Faria said.

She acknowledged parents sometimes have no choice but to place the child seat in the front, because, for example, the vehicle is a truck or seat belts in the back do not work.

However, "the only time you would even consider doing that with a rear-facing seat is if you can turn or disable the airbag," she said. "If people don't have an on- and off-switch (for airbags), they should never place a rear-facing seat in front of an active airbag. That would be very dangerous."

A deployed airbag would be "so close to the child seat that it can cause severe injuries to the baby and even death," she said. "There have been reports of that widely documented in the mainland."

She pointed out that car manufacturers do place warnings in the vehicles to that effect.

More Recycling Options

In addition to the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii (Kokua Line, Sept. 15), the Windward Ahupua'a Alliance will pick up recyclable and redeemable containers for free, anywhere on Oahu.

However, you need to have a minimum of 100 containers to arrange for a pickup.

The nonprofit organization also will provide recycling bins and bags at community fund-raisers, giving event organizers the choice of keeping 40 percent of the redemption fees collected or donating the entire amount to the alliance.

Call 247-6366, ext. 2, or check the Web site www.waa-hawaii.org.

The Windward Ahupua'a Alliance seeks to "preserve, protect, restore and enjoy in culturally and environmentally appropriate ways the land, the water and the air, as well as the flora and the fauna who live on, in, under or above them."

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