Thursday, August 24, 2006

85 Percent of all carseats are incorrectly installed.

C'mon people, how hard can it be??? So we went to the health unit, who would be happy to point out how excellently we've installed the carseat.
(and happy to point out how poorly others may do it)

We had it in the optimal middle position, with the fancy new LATCH system, firmly in place, as tight as a 320 pound dutchman could make it. (incorrectly)

So apparently, you shouldn't use the fancy new LATCH in the middle. Upon inspection, we moved the seat to the passenger side, "outboard" position. The dutchman tightened it again, only to have the 120 pound health unit lady suggest that maybe I should hold it down, while she tightened it. I love the smell of humility in the morning.

We couldn't possibly known about the correct position, of course. Not at all our fault. Little tidbits like that are horribly hard to find out. Mazda had hidden that knowledge in some obscure part of our owners manual called "Installing a Child Safety Seat". Now I ask you, how can one possibly expect to find such information squirrelled away in such obscurity???
It really is too much to ask.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't worry my friend. If it makes you feel any beter, in Italy we don't even use car seats. We just throw them up on the dashboard where their heads bobble back and forth like one of those dancing Taco Bell dogs.

Paul and Yolanda Koole said...

Okay, Mr. Pickle (aka dad)...slow down there. Can't you just pretend that Caleb is your grandchild and leave me alone??!!