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New Child Seat Guidelines from the NHTSA

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced this week a new set of rules, or guidelines, as it calls them, regarding child restraint in cars. The revision of the guidelines has been made by the safety watchdog in an attempt to better provide information to both those who manufacture the child seats and those in need of buying one.

Until now, the guidelines took into account, as a prime factor, the type of child seat. From now on, the NHTSA recommendations will be based on the age of the children for whom the seats are designed.

The main new piece of advice the organization is giving parents is not to switch from one type of seat to another until, in essence, the kid doesn't fit in the current chair. For instance, says the NHTSA, kids should be placed in “restraints in the rear facing position as long as children fit within the height and weight imits of the car seat as established by the manufacturer.”

The new guidelines, which the NHTSA says are in line with the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, call for parents to keep kids in rear-facing restraints until two years of age and place children under 13 in the back seat.

"Safety is our highest priority,"
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said when the NHTSA announced their newest pieces of advice. He goes on to sum up the NHTSA guidelines in a very simple, yet accurate manner, "The best car seat is the one that fits your child, fits your vehicle and one you will use every time your child is in the car."
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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