According to the Road Safety Authorities estimates, as much as 80% of car seats in Ireland are fitted incorrectly.
And with road accidents the leading cause of child deaths in Ireland, this shocking statistic is now being used in a bid to encourage parents to shop carefully for car seats.
Christine Carolan is one of those pleading with parents to educate themselves on how to fit their child’s car seat.
Christine invented the Cosynest which recently was a huge success in the high-speed crash tests at the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory.
Christine designed the Cosynest after seeing how at risk her own baby was when wearing thicker clothing in her car seat.
She told The Independent: "I was horrified by the number of car crashes involving children; 262 children were killed in Ireland between 1997 and 2012.
"And another 1,115 were severely injured." She added: "One-in-10 of those children wasn't even wearing a seat belt or a child restraint."
A recent WhatCar? survey highlighted the dangers of buying car seats online without expert advice and properly sampling the seats.
Researchers have said ordering car seats online is like taking part in a lottery.
Christine had some practical advice that parents could use to assess their current car seat.
"A simple thing: try the two fingers test. If you can fit two fingers under the strap at your baby's shoulder, then the seat is too loose."
The Road Safety Authority has a section on its website so you can “Check it Fits”.
And RSA checkers will be in various locations around the country to check your car seats.
You can find all that information by going to the RSA Check it Fits page.
