RICHMOND, Va. — The temperatures are dropping and it’s time to start shedding your winter clothes. But when it comes to children wearing them in car seats, you have to be careful.

According to AAA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), securing your child in the car seat while wearing a puffy jacket can create extra space in the harness. This means that if you get into an accident, your child could move and be at greater risk of injury.

To find out if your child’s jacket is creating too much space, NHTSA says to take off his seat belt and then adjust the seat belt harness with the jacket on. Then take off the jacket and see if the straps are still tight.

If they aren’t, you want to take your jacket off while driving.

AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Morgan Dean says even a bulky sweatshirt can create too much space in the car seat, but lightweight fleece layers can usually keep your child warm and are a good alternative.

“Put them in the car seat, make sure the straps are flat and tight on the baby, and then if you need to, you can put the coat back over them like a blanket to keep them warm,” Dean said. “But if that coat is on them while they’re under those straps, even if it doesn’t look like they have a lot of room there, that can be enough, sometimes in a dangerous accident, for them to slip or move as well. well under their belt. That can be very, very bad.”

Dean added that puffer jackets don’t pose the same risk to adults wearing seat belts, but if you’re worried they might heat you up while driving, take it off before you get behind the wheel.

“A lot of people have that heavy coat on, they have the heat building up, and then all of a sudden they’re hot,” Dean noted. “And while they’re driving, they’re like, oh, I have to take this coat off, and they’re unbuckling their seat belt or taking off their jacket. They don’t focus on the road. “

AAA also wants to remind you to dress for the weather this time of year and make sure you have a blanket, an emergency kit of food and water, a window scraper and even cat litter to help your car to have traction in snow or ice.

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