Why use LATCH?

Why use a tether?

A tether keeps a child's brain and spinal cord safer. A tether decreases how far a child's head will move forward during a crash by as much as 8 inches (Consumer Reports, 1998). The less the head moves forward, the less likely it is to hit hard parts in your vehicle--like the door frame, the window, the back of the front seat, or even other passengers. The tether also reduces the amount of acceleration and how much force is applied to the neck during a crash. Real world studies show that the tether virtually eliminates serious neck injuries.

A more technical explanation: The goal of a child safety seat is to hold a child in a crash and hopefully prevent the head and other parts of the body from hitting hard parts of the vehicle. The measurement of how far forward the child's head moves forward in a crash is called "Head Excursion." Child safety seats sold in the US have to meet head excursion requirements. Before September 1999, all forward-facing child safety seats sold in the US were required to pass a head excursion limit of 32 inches. This means that a child's head could not move forward more than 32 inches (from a point just behind the vehicle seat) in a crash. Since September 1999, all forward-facing child safety seats must pass an additional, stricter head excursion limit of 28 inches. Most forward-facing child safety seats cannot pass this 28 inche limit without using a tether to hold the top of the child safety seat back in a crash.

Why use the lower anchors?

Because its easier than using the vehicle's safety belt (usually!) A child safety seat needs to be secured very tightly to the vehicle--so that it moves less than one inch in any direction when you pull or push HARD on the child safety seat. This means that the safety belt holding the child safety seat to the vehicle has to be tight and must stay tight. Lower anchor straps stay tight when you pull them tight. Most vehicle safety belts do NOT stay tight when you pull them--the loosen as soon as you let go. In order to get the vehicle safety belt to stay tight you usually need to do something to it, like pull the shoulder strap out all the way or use a locking clip. This is generally more difficult than just pulling a lower anchor strap tight.