Topher McGibbon from KidCarNY.com

I had the opportunity to speak to Topher McGibbon from KidCarNY.com and discuss about his company and car safety.

Here is a interview Topher recently did with CBS:
http://wcbstv.com/parenttoparent/local_story_131111100.html


Topher-Please tell us about yourself and your company.
I am the founder and CEO of Kid Car NY (http://www.kidcarny.com/), a new car service that provides safe, comfortable, and convenient transport for children and parents by providing by providing specially trained drivers in kid-friendly, luxury minivans with professionally-installed child safety seats in every vehicle. I am also a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, which means I can help parents make sure that their own child safety seat is properly installed. In terms of education, I have a BA from Columbia and a MBA from the University of Michigan.

What do parents need to know about child safety in automobiles?
The most important thing parents need to know is that crashes happen every day in New York City. 2,600 children were injured in taxi-related crashes in 2000 (that’s 7 per day), and some were wearing seatbelts. Putting your child in a child safety seat is 59% safer than using seatbelts and 69% safer overall.

When does a child no longer need a child safety seat?
Children that are less than 4’9” or weigh less than 80-100 pounds should be in a federally approved child safety seat whenever they ride in an automobile. At that particular height and weight, and adult seatbelt will contact the child’s body at their shoulder and at the bony portion of their hips.

Please walk us through the steps parents can take to increase the safety of their children when riding in automobiles.
Parents can reduce the need for the hospitalization of their child by 69% by following these 3 easy steps:
1. Learn what type of child safety seat your child needs using the Kid Car Calculator
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2. Find the right child safety seat: The BEST child safety seat is the one that fits the child, fits the vehicle, and is used correctly EVERY time. NHTSA’s ease-of-use-ratings, can be a helpful guide.
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3. Visit a local Fitting Station to make sure the seat is installed correctly, because 80% of child safety seats are not properly installed.

Links to all of these tools can be found on the ‘Car Safety’ page of our website: http://www.kidcarny.com/

What about using seatbelts for my 3, 4, 5, or even 7 year old?
In a crash, children using adult seatbelt are at a 4x higher risk of head trauma or spinal cord injuries than those in a child safety seat. In the latest studies, one third of the injured children were restrained by a seatbelt.

Why?
When adults use a seatbelt, it contacts them at the bony portion of their hips and shoulders. When children use a seatbelt, they tend to put the shoulder belt behind them and the lap portion rides along soft tissue of their belly. When a crash occurs, the force exerted by the seatbelt is equal to the child’s weight times the car’s speed. In other words, a 50lb child in a 30mph crash will have 1500 pounds of pressure exerted on their belly. This amount of pressure can lead to a spinal cord injury.

How likely is it that a child will be in a crash in a taxi in New York City?
Data has not been collected since 2000, but that year 2600 children were injured (7 per day) in taxi-related crashes in New York City. Since then, both the number of children and the number of taxis in New York City have increased by 30% and 8% respectively. Many New York City hospitals (post partum and ER departments) are so concerned about Child Passenger Safety that they are implementing entire programs to address the issue.

Is there any way to keep a child safe in a taxi?
Use a child safety seat. The partition separating driver and passenger makes the solution imperfect, but it is still much safer than using the adult seatbelt.

What are laws in New York regarding child safety seats?
NY State Law § 1229-c: All children under the age of seven must be restrained in a federally approved, child restraint system. This section shall not apply to taxis, liveries, and buses other than school buses.

In other words, in a personal vehicle, all children under the age of seven must ride in a child safety seat. The law does not apply for children riding in taxis or black cars (because we all feel safer in taxis, right ;)). It is worth noting that California requires that ALL children be restrained in a child safety seat regardless of the type of vehicle or the driver.

What if the parent has the infant in a baby Bjorn and the parent is belted into the seat while driving in a taxi? Why should parents not do this?
First of all, Baby Bjorn and other companies never intended their carriers to be used in this manner. The reason is simple- In a crash, either the child’s body will tear through the carrier and be thrown from the vehicle; or the parent’s head will strike the top of the child’s head, causing serious trauma or death.

This is simple physics: Force = Weight * Speed.

In the first case, a 15lb baby traveling 30mph will generate 450lbs of pressure on the carrier (Imagine TWO, large adult men being carried in a Baby Bjorn).

In the second case, think about where the baby’s head is relative to the parent’s head. The shoulder belt will restrain the parent’s upper body, but their head will continue forward until it strikes the top of the infant’s head with roughly 300lbs of pressure.

When should the parent switch from a rear-facing convertible car seat to a forward-facing convertible car seat?
Infants should ride in rear-facing car safety seats as long as possible, and should not switch before the age of one.

The AAP is getting ready to revise this recommendation to 18 months. There is a height consideration as well. Long babies that cannot fit in a rear facing seat should, of course, be switched to forward facing.

Is it Ok to put an infant seat in the front seat even if it is facing the back of the seat? Why?
Never place a child in a rear-facing car safety seat in the front seat of a vehicle that has a passenger air bag. If it is absolutely necessary, turn off the airbag and move the front seat as far back as it will go. As a rule, children under the age of 13 are safest in the back seat of a car.

As parent I am never sure if I am putting the car seat in correctly. Do you have any tips on putting in a car seat?
The AAP website has a great guide on this listed under ‘Installing a car safety seat’ at http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm

Where can I go to have a Child Passenger Safety Technician check that my child safety seat is properly installed?
Every Kid Car NY driver has this certification. Visit the Seat Check website to find a technician to help you with your personal vehicle (Our ‘Car Safety’ page has a link)

Does anyone have any questions for Topher?

Topher do you have any additional comments.
We’ve covered a lot of ground here today. The ONLY thing parents need to remember is that crashes happen every day, and New York City is no different.

I can spout statistics and laws all day long, but let me suggest something else. Below is a link to one of the most popular videos on YouTube (almost 2M views). While it is both sad and informative, it should be watched every day to remind parents why their children need child safety seats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

I hope everyone will consider using Kid Car NY for their trips around town. It is a very convenient service for busy families and our professionally installed child safety seats will give your child a safe and comfortable ride: http://www.kidcarny.com/