Steering You Right with Sharon Peters
Q: We’re getting a new car that our two grandkids will be riding in often. The daughter-in-law is weighing in with the following: we’re supposed to get one that has the best LATCH system (for lashing down the child seats). I thought all new cars had this. And aren’t they all essentially the same?
A: The LATCH system – lower anchors and tethers for children – is a system of attachment hardware for child restraints that’s been in most vehicles since 2003. But they’re not all identical.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has discovered a couple of things in research it has conducted: child restraints are more likely to be installed correctly when LATCH is used, and people are more likely to install a restraint properly when the LATCH is easy to use. It’s the second thing that to which your daughter-in-law is referring.
Turns out that some LATCH systems are tough to use. The IIHS established a LATCH rating program in 2015 to encourage manufacturers to design LATCH hardware that meets ease-of-use criteria that the institute has identified. The criteria include such things as the depth of the lower anchors (those that are located at a depth of about 3/4 inch or less are considered easy to find) and the force required to attach (if you’re not a professional body builder, you should still be able to click the thing in place).
The institute also says tether anchors shouldn’t be at the very bottom of the seatback, under the seat, on the ceiling or on the floor, and that they shouldn’t be located near other hardware that could be mistaken for the anchor (unless boldly labeled).
A spokesperson for the IIHS tells me that the LATCH ratings for 2016 model vehicles are on the brink of being complete and will be posted on the IIHS website (www.IIHS.org) by mid July.
Moreover, even before then, if you have a particular make and model in mind, you can go to the IIHS website and check out the various safety ratings for that vehicle. The LATCH rating will be included along with the rest of those ratings.
© CTW Features
What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, driving and repairing your vehicle. Email Sharon@ctwfeatures.com.
