We have two children showing us how to use the seat belt with the RideSafer Travel Vest. An older child who can put it on herself and a younger child who still needs help.
First our older child, Siena, demonstrates how she gets herself buckled into the RideSafer.
- First she buckles the seat belt.
- Then she makes sure there aren’t any twists in it before she slips it into the RideSafer clips on the lap.
- Then she pulls the slack out of it and puts the shoulder belt into the shoulder clip on the RideSafer.
(To view how to leave the RideSafer partially installed in the car, skip to 3:15.)
Siena started buckling herself into the RideSafer when she was about 5 ½ years old and has been doing it with just a double check from us since then. She is now almost 9.
You can see the lap portion of the seat belt is on the hips and the shoulder portion is midchest/midshoulder. The crash energy would be dissipated and absorbed by the chest portion of the vest.
Brode helps us demonstrate using the RideSafer vest and tether with a smaller child. He is now 4 ½ and has been using the RideSafer as his daily car seat since he was 3 ½.
- First we put connect the tether strap to the vest and clip it into the tether anchor point in the car.
- Then we fit the vest to the child and buckle him in.
- Then we buckle the seat belt and slip it into the clips. One trick is to fold the seat belt and let it slide into the clip.
- Then we snug up the tether so it’s at a neutral tension so it’s not lifting up on the vest.
If you find the vest being lifted, you can have the child lean forward, pull the vest in the back then have the child lean back again.
If your child is using the RideSafer every day and you want to leave the vest partly buckled in the car you can:
- Unbuckle the seat belt when you arrive at your destination.
- Slip it out of one of the lap clips.
- Unbuckle the RideSafer and slip it off your child.
When your child gets back in:
- Buckle the vest.
- Buckle the seat belt.
- Slip seat belt into the one clip and pull the slack out.
If you find the seat belt bunching on the lap, sometimes it’s because the parent is pulling the seat belt too tight.
We want to know, did this video help you understand how to use the seat belt with the RideSafer? Share your comments below.
By Greg Durocher, CEO at Safe Ride 4 Kids and certified CPS Technician Instructor since 2002
Copyright 2016 Safe Ride 4 Kids. All rights reserved. You may not publish, broadcast, rewrite or redistribute this material without permission. You are welcome to link to Safe Ride 4 Kids or share on social media.
I’m still looking for how this would work with a lap-only belt…perhaps as found in the back of an RV.
The lap belt goes into the lap guides on the RideSafer and you attach the tether strap to the shoulders of the vest and a tether anchor point in the vehicle to provide the upper body support. Please read this article if you are looking at RV travel.
What is the vest attached to on the vehicle? Not understanding how this works. Thanks.
The child wears the RideSafer vest and the seat belt goes over the vest and child. The seat belt goes through the seat belt guides on the lap and shoulder to keep it properly positioned. The vest itself is not attached to the vehicle unless you are also using the tether strap (required when using RideSafer with a lap-only seat belt). The tether strap attaches to the shoulders of the RideSafer vest and the tether anchor in the vehicle.