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Davis Law Group Receives Seattle Business Magazine’s ‘Best Companies to Work For’ Award Learn More
As a parent, keeping your child safe is one of your top priorities. This includes making sure that your child is secured in the proper type of car seat or booster seat for their age, height, and weight. Many parents may not realize that car seats are only good for a certain amount of time and have an expiration date, like milk or other perishable goods. Although using an expired car seat in Seattle is not illegal, it is highly discouraged.
Washington’s car seat law specifies all the details that parents need to know about securing their child in the proper restraint system. Among other things, the law requires that:
Washington has these child safety laws in place to help protect children in the event of a car accident. Car accidents are still responsible for roughly 25% of all unintentional injury deaths in children under 13. Ensuring that your child is secured in the proper car seat or booster seat can help reduce their chances of injury during an accident.
Many parents are unaware that car seats have expiration dates. After all, a car seat does not seem like a perishable item, like milk or bread. However, there are some valid reasons as to why car seats expire. Some of those reasons include:
New regulations or requirements could make an older car seat non-compliant. When regulations change, you should always check your child’s car seat to make sure that it complies with the new rules.
Car seat manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to enhance the safety features of their seats. New technology often necessitates changes to seat designs that result in increased safety.
One of the biggest reasons car seats have expiration dates is that the materials they contain start to break down with age. Plastic can start to become hard and brittle, and the foam inside the seat starts to break down as well. Extreme temperatures inside vehicles in summer and winter also contribute to the breakdown of these materials.
If a car seat experiences damage or is involved in an accident, it should immediately be replaced. Even if the expiration date has not passed, a damaged car seat is no longer safe. Dropping a car seat onto concrete or some other hard surface could do enough damage to warrant the need for a replacement.
Sometimes, car seat manufacturers issue recalls for some of their products. Recalls are typically done because of safety issues, so you should always follow the protocol in the recall to ensure that you have a safe car seat. If your child has been hurt because of a defective car seat, you should always seek help from an experienced personal injury lawyer.
Most car seats have a label somewhere on the seat that shows both the manufacture date and the expiration date. Keep in mind that this label is likely placed below the cloth cover, so you may have to remove some components of the car seat to find the label.
Additionally, some car seats may have the expiration date stamped or printed directly on the seat’s plastic shell. For more information about the expiration date, refer to the owner’s manual that came with the car seat.
If your child’s car seat has expired, you should replace it as soon as possible. You should refrain from donating or attempting to sell an expired car seat because that seat should no longer be used.
Some retailers accept car seat trade-ins, so you might be able to get a discount on a new car seat by bringing in your old, expired seat. You should check with the shops and retailers in your area to see if they have any trade-in programs available.
If your child was hurt in a crash — especially one involving an expired or faulty car seat — we know how overwhelming it can be. You’re trying to keep your family safe while juggling medical visits, insurance calls, and more. At Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers, we’ve helped countless Washington families in your shoes and are here to help you, too.
Contact us today to arrange a free consultation with a Seattle car accident attorney. We proudly serve King County in Washington and its surrounding areas. Visit our law office at:
Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers
2101 4th Ave 1030 Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 727 4000
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