Miamisburg, Ohio (July 8, 2008) - Moms are universally concerned about car seat safety for their children and most consider themselves in the know on the topic, according to recent Evenflo survey of 500 pregnant women and moms. But, according to the survey, the reality is that they are not familiar with LATCH, a mandated child restraint anchorage system designed to make proper installation of car seats easier.
LATCH, which stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children, is a standardized child restraint anchorage system that facilitates correct installation of car seats and allows them to be installed without using the vehicle’s seat belt system. LATCH makes the correct installation of car seats easier and avoids any confusion that might be caused by the numerous types of vehicle seat belt systems on the market today. All cars manufactured after September 1, 2002 come standard with LATCH.
When it comes to car seat safety, moms may not be as knowledgeable as they think.
Highlights of the survey include:
- Nearly all moms say they are concerned about car seat safety and feel at least somewhat informed on the topic (90 percent)
- Only 43 percent of moms are familiar with LATCH
- Almost 30 percent of moms aren’t sure if their car even has LATCH (29%)
“What we’ve found is that there’s a disparity between moms’ perceived knowledge about car seat safety and knowledge of LATCH, “said Lindsay Harris, Vice President of Corporate Engineering and Quality for Evenflo. “Even six years after LATCH was mandated, many moms still don’t understand this important safety feature in their vehicle. LATCH is one of the most significant innovations when it comes to car seat safety and proper installation, and it’s critical that moms are educated on this system.”
The survey also showed that there is a knowledge gap among moms when it comes to their vehicles and LATCH. Slightly over half of moms (55 percent) know that their car is equipped with LATCH. With 61 percent having cars that were manufactured in 2003 or after, this proportion should actually have LATCH-equipped cars.
For moms-to-be, LATCH awareness is even lower. While pregnant women have newer cars (70 percent with 2003-or-later cars), an even lower proportion (37 percent) are certain that their cars are LATCH-enabled, and more are unsure (55 percent).
Interestingly, about four out of 10 moms (42 percent) have car seats installed with LATCH. Of those who do not, a lack of familiarity (26 percent), lack of certainty (10 percent) and not having LATCH (14 percent) are the primary reasons. Very few (8 percent) did not install LATCH because they do not prefer it.
For more information about LATCH and to see Evenflo’s full line of LATCH-equipped car seats, visit www.evenflo.com/safetymadeeasier.
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Evenflo between April 3 and 15, 2008 among 500 pregnant women and moms in the SheSpeaks panel. All figures presented here reflect the responses of women who are pregnant for the first time, moms with one child under age 6 years and moms with multiple children, at least one under age 6 years.
With a pure probability sample of 500, one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of +/- 6.5 percentage points. Sampling error for data based on sub-samples would be higher and would vary. However, that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
Lower Anchorages and Tethers for Children (LATCH) is a standardized child restraint anchorage system that makes installation easier by allowing car seats to be installed without using the vehicle's seat belt system. LATCH avoids the potential difficulties that might arise with the use of numerous types of seat belt hardware.
Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, Evenflo Company, Inc. is a privately held leading manufacturer and marketer of infant and juvenile products. Evenflo was founded in 1920 and is a top supplier of infant and juvenile products to key retailers such as Toys “R” Us, Babies “R” Us, Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart. The company’s product offering spans a broad range of essential infant and juvenile product categories, including car seats, travel systems, infant and toddler feeding, carriers, stationary activity centers and home safety products. Evenflo’s premier brand name has 97 percent awareness with new mothers, and the company enjoys #1 or #2 market share positions in 10 important product categories. For more information on Evenflo, visit www.evenflo.com.