Sh*cking footage shows why you should never make your child wear a winter coat in car
Parents are being warned of the d_a_ngers of putting heavy winter coats on children in the car.
The winter is definitely upon us, with a sharp chill hitting almost areas this week.
But though dressing your kids up in the warmest snug coat might seem sensible, it poses a serious and potentially fatal safety risk.
That’s because straps and seatbelts that go over a bulky coat are actually dangerously loose, despite it appearing like the child is strapped in safely.
In a video to illustrate the risks involved, crash tests show a child dummy fully strapped in to a car seat wearing a coat hurtling from their safety restraints in a simulated 30mph crash.
Though the straps look like they fit snug to his body, there are several inches between the youngster and the nylon, the Daily Record reports.
That space between him and the belt reduces safety “considerably”, experts claim.
In previous simulation videos, crash test dummies dressed in heavy coats have shown just how dangerous the wardrobe choice could be.
In one clip, the dummy is sharply jerked forward before hurtling through the air in the 30mph collision.
Margaret Bolt, Good Egg Safety car seat expert, told the MEN : “Without adjusting the harness and doing the buckle back up, you can see how much movement there is in those straps and how much slack there in fact still is.
“Now if they wear a winter coat in a car seat and the car is involved in a crash, all the padding in the coat will be compressed and effectively this is how loose the straps are and the child could be ejected from the seat.”
Parents are being urged to remove their kids’ bulky coats before strapping them in and then, if they’re cold before the car warms up, they should place the coat over the child to keep them warm.
The advice also applies to adults.
Source: dailyrecord.co.ukmirror.co.uk
