RICHMOND, Va. — Temperatures are dropping and it's about time to start pulling out your winter coats. But when it comes to kids wearing them in car seats, you need to be careful.
According to AAA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), buckling your child in their car seat while they are wearing a puffy coat can create extra room in the harness. That means if you get in a crash, your child could move around and be at a higher risk of getting hurt.
To find out if your child’s jacket is creating too much room, NHTSA says to strap them in and then adjust the seatbelt harness with their jacket on. Then take that jacket off and see if the straps are still snug.
If they aren’t, you want to take that jacket off while you are driving.
AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Morgan Dean says even a bulky sweatshirt can create too much room in the car seat, but typically, lightweight fleece layers can keep your child warm and be a good alternative.
"Get them into the car seat, make sure that the straps are flat and snug against the child, and then, if you need to, you can put that coat back over top of them as a blanket to help keep them warm," Dean said. "But if that coat is on them while they're under those straps, even though it doesn't seem like a lot of space there, that can be enough, sometimes in a dangerous crash, that they can actually slip out or move too much under their straps. That can be very, very bad."
Dean added puffy jackets don’t create the same risk for adults wearing seatbelts, but if you're worried you may get hot while driving, take it off before you get behind the wheel.
"A lot of people have that heavy coat on, they have the heat cranking up, and then suddenly they're hot," noted Dean. "And as they're driving, they're like, oh, I've got to take this coat off, and they're undoing their seat belt or they're pulling their jacket off. Their focus is not on the roadway."
AAA also wants to remind you to dress for the weather this time of year and make sure you have a blanket, an emergency kit with food and water, a window scraper, and even kitty litter to help your car get traction in snow or ice.
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