My very first seat check event

msg221

Well-known member
Okay, after this 3 hour seat check, I now know that I need to get myself into the gym, pronto! My feet were hurting so bad after standing up the entire time and my lower back was absolutely killing me!

As for the check event, I only got to help one couple because with everyone else, there was a language barrier. I was really disappointed that I couldn't help more. The seat check event was in an area of Phoenix where the majority of the population is Hispanic so the bilingual techs had to help them. So while they helped the parents, I kept an eye on their little ones since our seat check was in a busy grocery store parking lot.

The one couple I did help were expectant parents who wanted to learn how to install their Keyfit 30 bases. Mom was in her car, dad in his with each of them having a base in their vehicle. Mom and dad were a super nice couple and thanked us and were just very appreciative, telling us how nice it was for us to do this. I was told by the other techs that it is rare to see vehicles and seats like this couple had in the area that most of their events are held. This probably explains why one of the techs told me yesterday that she had never seen seats like my TFP, MR and MA that I had in my vehicle.

I did see some horrible misuse. The first check we did I immediately saw everything wrong as soon as dad opened the door: 19 month old FF in an expired Touriva. It was obvious that the harness was way too loose, harness was way too high, the install was horribly loose and the seat belt was very twisted. Not only that, the seat was just filthy nasty. Stained, crumbs, the retainer clip was filthy. We sent them off with a brand new Evenflo Titan, rear facing.

Another bad one: Dad came with his 3 children, a 7 year old, a 3.5 year old and an 18 month old. The two little ones were in the rear seat of a 1997 4-Runner, both FF. Scary thing is that when we uninstalled the Scenera that the 18 month old was in and then tried to reinstall, we couldn't because we found that the retractor was broken on that side. We couldn't install in the center either because there was no latchplate! I also noticed that the center of the steering wheel looked like it was coming apart, which is kind of scary because of the air bag. It was scary to have to send them off with one of the kids not being restrained safely because of the broken seatbelt retractor. I hope that dad is able to have that repaired.

We gave out a lot of seats and actually gave out all of our convertibles. One family got two new seats including a HBB since their 5 year-old daughter wasn't riding in anything when they arrived. It really made me feel good to see them drive off and all of the kids safely restrained now and nothing could beat the smile that little girl had in her brand new booster seat!
 
ADS

jourdysmom

CPST Instructor
It warms my heart to know that if we save *just* one child.... that we are doing a great thing for "our" kids... :love:

My back and feet kill me too afterwards!
 

TerisBoys

Well-known member
I did see some horrible misuse. The first check we did I immediately saw everything wrong as soon as dad opened the door: 19 month old FF in an expired Touriva. It was obvious that the harness was way too loose, harness was way too high, the install was horribly loose and the seat belt was very twisted. Not only that, the seat was just filthy nasty. Stained, crumbs, the retainer clip was filthy. We sent them off with a brand new Evenflo Titan, rear facing.

The straps setting on the Touriva was actually correct - I'm mentioning this because they are still sold (I've seen recent DOM's at Big Lots), and may be seen again in the future. Older convertibles like the Touriva did not have all slots reinforced for FF. Middle slot would've been misuse as the straps could actually rip out in a collision. The Comfort Sport still has restrictions as well. Bottom/middle RF, middle/top 20-30# FF, top only 30-40# according to the manual.
 

msg221

Well-known member
A Belt Shortening Clip could have been used in this scenario.

Wow. I'm surprised that one of the more experienced techs or instructors didn't mention that. I even went over the whole scenario with one of the instructors who is also a police officer. I will have to remember that in case something like that ever happens again. Thank you for the info.
 

spokaneCPST

CPST Instructor
My Touriva (DOM 6/2006) does not have a restriction to use only the top slots - the manual only says at or above shoulders for forward-facing.

I also agree that a belt shortning clip would have solved the broken retractor problem.

Congrats on becoming a CPST!
 

msg221

Well-known member
The straps setting on the Touriva was actually correct - I'm mentioning this because they are still sold (I've seen recent DOM's at Big Lots), and may be seen again in the future. Older convertibles like the Touriva did not have all slots reinforced for FF. Middle slot would've been misuse as the straps could actually rip out in a collision. The Comfort Sport still has restrictions as well. Bottom/middle RF, middle/top 20-30# FF, top only 30-40# according to the manual.

I see what your saying and understand now. I just haven't seen many Touriva's before. Well, the seat was expired anyway and like I said, just filthy dirty, so at least he's in a brand new seat. I just hope they don't trash this seat like his old one.
 
Where was this event? Was this your end of class event? Who were your other instructors?

Sadly, I'm not surprised that the BSC clip for the broken seatbelt was not thought of at all.

ETA: Don't forget that at events they (sr checkers) will typically have you just set the straps at the highest setting for FF. Drives me crazy myself, but they do it because even though you walk the parents through adjusting & installing they want to limit the chance of parents screwing up the seat in the future.
 

msg221

Well-known member
Where was this event? Was this your end of class event? Who were your other instructors?

Sadly, I'm not surprised that the BSC clip for the broken seatbelt was not thought of at all.

ETA: Don't forget that at events they (sr checkers) will typically have you just set the straps at the highest setting for FF. Drives me crazy myself, but they do it because even though you walk the parents through adjusting & installing they want to limit the chance of parents screwing up the seat in the future.

Yes, it was the end of class event. It was at the Food City on 21st St. & McDowell. The instructors were Phoenix Police officers Arnie Cuellar & Steve Petrey and then the other instructors were Reginald Williams, Ashley Barinka, Blanca Barrera, Zoraida Ettrick, and Monica Falcon.

I wish they had thought of using a belt shortening clip for that one family. I hate to think of the danger that one of those kids will be in if he doesn't have the seatbelt repaired. I think I will e-mail Reginald, the lead instructor, and mention to him about using that. He of course has the dad's name and phone number, so maybe they can ask if he could come back in and have one of them fix it.

There is going to be another event next weekend at three different locations (I think at different campuses of Maricopa Community College). I am hoping I can work one of those if I can.
 

jjordan

Moderator
Wow. I'm surprised that one of the more experienced techs or instructors didn't mention that. I even went over the whole scenario with one of the instructors who is also a police officer. I will have to remember that in case something like that ever happens again. Thank you for the info.

I don't know about your class, but in my class the lead instructor really emphasized that a BSC is used if you have an ELR belt with a sewn on latchplate. There was never any mention of other situations where a BSC could be used, so I'm not surprised that an instructor wouldn't think to use it in other situations.

But now I can stash that idea away for myself! :)
 
Yes, it was the end of class event. It was at the Food City on 21st St. & McDowell. The instructors were Phoenix Police officers Arnie Cuellar & Steve Petrey and then the other instructors were Reginald Williams, Ashley Barinka, Blanca Barrera, Zoraida Ettrick, and Monica Falcon.



There is going to be another event next weekend at three different locations (I think at different campuses of Maricopa Community College). I am hoping I can work one of those if I can.

They are a great group of instructors (but they do drop the ball a lot). In my class Arnie & I hashed out his use of saying only height & weight plays a factor in seat choices. He kept knocking out my use of age. I finally said to him, would you really feel comfortable putting a 2yo in a booster? He of course said no & then tried to say that's not an issue anyway. I told him he was dead wrong. According to his comments that it's ok to pick a seat based on height & weight only, if I didn't understand seats the way I do then by his word my DS could've been in a booster at age 2. It's like he couldn't fathom that some kids are just plain huge w/ out actually being overweight. LOL... He's a good guy though, don't get me wrong.

Reggie is awesome. I was Blanca's first class.

Too bad I didn't know you had a seat check going on there. It's super close to me, I could've brought you my GN & Crapneras to check, lol...
 

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