Jun29
Travelling with Kids – Surviving the Journey

Travelling with Kids – Surviving the Journey

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As the summer holidays roll around, you may be planning to take your kids on a holiday abroad or a staycation. Either way, this can involve a fair bit of travelling, so it’s important to ensure your kids are safe and happy along the way. Thankfully, a huggybelt can help with the former.

Getting there

Whether you’re driving to a holiday home or caravan, or simply making your way to the airport, the huggybelt is an ideal way to ensure your child is fully protected on the journey. Working in tandem with your child’s car seat or booster, the huggybelt ensures the seat belt sits in the correct position on your child’s body. This means it’s highly unlikely to fall off, and can offer maximum protection with less chance of sustaining injury should you become involved in a crash.huggybelt

Home or away

The great news is that a huggybelt is flexible and portable, so you can take it with you wherever your child goes. If you plan to rent a car while abroad, simply unclip the huggybelt from the Isofix point, fold it up and pop it in your hand luggage. Whilst the rules of the road may vary slightly in other countries, you can still ensure your child is protected in case of a crash by taking your huggybelt with you.

It’s worth bearing in mind the belt’s portability when you are at home too. If your child is going on a trip with a friend’s family, you can easily remove your huggybelt to transfer to another car, in the event that the other car owner does not have a huggybelt.

Keep the kids amused

traffic-637118_1920When you’re sure your child is comfortable and safe in the car, the hardest part begins – keeping them amused! Fortunately, there are plenty of games you can play that everyone in the car can enjoy. For instance, if you’re on a car journey abroad, you could play spot the difference between there and home. If you’re in a rural area, you could each pick a farm animal and see how many you can find before you stop. Why not check out our car games for Easter travellers post for more inspiration?

Whether you’re travelling at home or abroad this summer, our tips should keep your kids safe and happy. If you haven’t purchased a huggybelt yet and want one in time for the summer, you can get yours from Halfords, Tesco, Amazon or Baby Security. Each come with express delivery options so you needn’t be without yours for long

Jun01
Child Safety Week 2016

Child Safety Week 2016

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The annual Child Safety Week runs from 6th-12th June this year. Organised by the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), this year the theme is ‘Turn Off Technology.’capt

The week focuses on a variety of different aspects, but the main aim is to raise awareness of the risks children face, and how to prevent accidents from happening. One of the main areas looked at throughout the week is road safety, and how we can help prevent child accidents on the roads.

With the theme in mind, parents are asked to focus on technology in terms of their children using devices as pedestrians and adults using technology in cars. For instance, your older children may already have mobile phones, if not a tablet or portable gaming device. The temptation for children to message friends, watch YouTube videos or send Snapchats on the way home from school can often mean that your child will not be paying 100% attention to their surroundings. As with road safety campaigns in the 90s where youths were encouraged to remove earphones as a distraction for crossing the road, children are also being asked to stop using their devices before crossing any street.

That’s just one facet of road safety that Child Safety Week looks at. The other element is of technology in cars. Some technology has been fantastic, for example sat-navs, hands-freenavigation-1048294_1920 kits for your phone and sensors to warn you if someone doesn’t have their seat belt on. On the other hand, technology can also be a distraction. In 2015, over 5,500 people were caught using a mobile phone at the wheel. This is not only a distraction, it becomes a danger to those in your car, and other road users. It also leads a bad example to your children, who may then grow to develop the same bad habits.

With more than 2,000 child deaths per year attributed to road accidents, there has never been a better time to focus on road safety and the things we can do to protect our children. A huggybelt is a great piece of equipment which can help in the event of a crash, but if we can stop dangers such as technology distractions, we could well prevent crashes happening in the first place.

For more information on how you can get involved in this year’s Child Safety week see the Child Safety Week website.

May03
Retailer Profile – Baby Security

Retailer Profile – Baby Security

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Baby Security is one of the leading retailers in child safety products. This is just one of the reasons huggybelt has paired with them to sell our car safety belt.

Baby Security logo
Baby Security logo

Part of EDPA, Baby Security has been trading for 10 years, with the mission to offer parents the very best in baby and child safety products. Not only are they committed to offering the best, they are also dedicated to providing the most helpful service possible. By working directly with suppliers and being consistently on-hand to answer any queries you have, you can trust that the expert team at Baby Security will find you the safest product that meets your needs.

In addition to this, anyone purchasing any child safety product from Baby Security can look forward to exceptional value for money. This is because they promise to price match each product they sell, which means you won’t get it cheaper anywhere else. Prices are checked on a daily basis, and there’s even a finance option if you spend over £300 with them (that’s a lot of huggybelts!).

How do I get a huggybelt from Baby Security?

You can purchase your huggybelt directly from the Baby Security website, any time of night or day. If you follow this link you’ll be able to get your hands on yours now. Fill out your details in the same way you would with any online store, and your belt will be on its way before you know it. There are a range of options to choose from in terms of delivery, quantity and payment method. Make multiple purchases at once and have delivered at a time to suit you.

Useful info

  • Standard delivery of the huggybelt is completely free from Baby Security
  • Standard delivery takes 3-5 working days
  • Expedited delivery (1-day delivery) is also available for £2.99 This is only available Monday to Saturday
  • Alternatively, shoppers can click and collect for £3.99 to collect from their nearest DPD location the very next day. Orders must be placed before noon to take advantage of this.
  • Users can buy in bulk, which is ideal for a nursery/school group who go on outings

 

huggybeltThanks to everyone who has purchased a huggybelt from Baby Security so far. The next time you are looking to upgrade your car seat, or even any nursery items, why not get your huggybelt at the same time at with no delivery charge?

We would also be grateful if those who have purchased from this site would take the time to leave a review of huggybelt on the site so that others can see just how well huggybelt works in practice.

Apr19
Child Safety in Group Outings

Child Safety in Group Outings

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We all want to protect our children as much as possible, in every situation. One thing that isn’t necessarily at the front of our minds when we think of child safety is a group outing or trip involving road travel.1

Kids will inevitably go on trips or excursions with nursery or school groups, and any clubs or sports your child is involved in may also have an element of group travel. When parents are unable to attend such trips, our faith is put in the hands of the teachers, coaches and other appropriate adults or chaperones in this situation.

To this extent, we assume our children are safe as they are being looked after by responsible adults. However, it may come as a shock to learn that actually in some circumstances, there can be very little protection for our kids in coaches or minibuses. Even more shockingly, it is legal.

Minibus Travel

If your child is in a small minibus (unladen weight of 2,540kg or less) then the same child safety laws applicable in a car apply here. That is, children under 3 should use an appropriate child restraint, as should children under 12 or under 135cm. The only leeway here is that should such a restraint be unavailable for 3-12 year olds, the regular 3-point seat belt is a permissible form of restraint and should be used instead.

With larger minibuses (unladen weight of over 2,540kg), things are less strict. The current law states that children over 14 must use a seat belt when travelling in a larger minibus, however, children aged 3 to 13 are not permitted by law to wear a seat belt. Despite having no legal obligation to be strapped in, it’s very much advised that your child uses an appropriate restraint such as a standard seat belt where one is available. After all, research shows that you’re twice as likely to die in a car accident if you’re not wearing a seat belt.

Coach travel

Most coaches nowadays (those built after 2001) have individual 3-point seat belts or a retractable lap belt on all seats, whether forward or rear facing. However, similar to larger minibus travel, the law does not require those under 14 to wear the seat belt, whilst those over 14 must be strapped in using the standard belt. In this instance it’s strongly advised that your child uses the belt available.

Making trips safer

Most teachers and responsible adults on trips do still encourage children to wear seat belts on group trips, even if it isn’t the law in coaches or some minibuses. Whilst this does offer a degree of protection and shouldn’t be discouraged, seat belts are actually designed for adults, not children. This means that although your child will be restrained, it’s not the most effective form of protection for them.

Products like huggybelt which can be easily fitted to a minibus or coach seat belt can offer the most appropriate and effective protection your child needs. The huggybelt ensures the seat belt sits in the correct position on your child, so that there’s less chance of your child sustaining a seat belt syndrome injury. In fact, your child is 45% less likely to sustain injury in a crash situation if they are wearing a huggybelt than if they were to rely on the standard belt or safety seat.

The huggybelt is easily adjusted, so can be used to restrain a 4-year-old and a 10-year-old (though not both at the same time!), which is ideal in a school or club situation. The belts are durable and adjustable enough that they last as a child grows.

In a group situation, this is an ideal solution for drivers, and doesn’t take long to adjust to children of different heights and weights. From an individual parent perspective, you can easily pop a huggybelt into your child’s sports or school bag to be used on trips.

Apr14
Should You Replace a Car Seat After a Collision?

Should You Replace a Car Seat After a Collision?

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This is a question which hopefully never has to cross our minds. However, when you consider the fact that there are around 190,000 road accident casualties (of varying severity/age) in the UK each year, being involved in an accident is not as uncommon as you may think.Huggy Belt Test

If you have been involved in a car collision when there was a car seat in the car, the safest answer to this question is yes, you should replace the car seat(s). This is as true for a collision with your children involved as it is with a car seat that was empty at the time of impact. Many parents are usually under the assumption that if your child hasn’t sustained any serious injury and if the seat looks to be in the same shape and condition as before, the seat will be ok.

This isn’t strictly true. Although you may not be able to see any visible damage from the outside, it may have been weakened on crash impact, to the extent that it can no longer provide the same level of protection. When it comes to kids, we believe that safety is priceless so you should always consider replacing the seat. When making an insurance claim, be sure to include the cost of the replacement seat in your claim, meaning you don’t have to fork out for what can often be an expensive but necessary replacement.

Exceptions to the rule

There are of course, exceptions to every rule, and it may be that your seat doesn’t need to be replaced. If the crash occurred at a very low speed impact, or if there was little to no external damage to the car, the impact may not have had an effect on the seat. However even in these circumstances we would advise checking with the manufacturer, as they often give advice as to the circumstances which would require you to replace a car seat.

Safe over sorry

Our stance is that we would rather be safe than sorry, so would always replace the seat. In addition, we believe that protecting your children in the best possible way is the way forward when choosing a car seat after a collision. This is why we would recommend purchasing a huggybelt alongside any replacement group 2/3 car seat as this lowers the risk of your child sustaining serious injury in the event of a crash by 45%. By ensuring the seat belt is positioned correctly across your child’s body we are able to minimise this risk by almost half. So if you’re looking to replace your car seat, either due to a collision or change in weight/height, consider purchasing a huggybelt too.

 

Mar14
50 Years of Seat Belt Safety

50 Years of Seat Belt Safety

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Did you know that the humble seat belt is 50 years old this year? Considering cars have been around for over 100 years, it’s taken time to adapt and take on board safety features.

The first steps towards car safety were taken in 1966 where legislation made it compulsory for all new cars to have seatbelt fittings installed. Seatbelts offer huge protection in the event of a crash, with figures suggesting you’re twice as likely to die if you don’t wear a seat belt at all than if you do.huggybelt with child in car seat

The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing reinforces the point:

“Seat belts are not only a legal requirement, they are the first and best line of preventative defence against death and serious injury in a road traffic collision.”

Penalties for not wearing seat belts include on-the-spot fines of £100 if caught without one on, or a fine of up to £500 if prosecuted. As a result of this law, it’s thought that 98% of drivers now wear a seat belt at all times whilst a car is moving.

Improving Seat Belt Safety for Children

However, seat belts have been designed primarily for use by adults, so don’t offer the best protection for your child. Where a seat belt has been created in such a way to fit an adult body protecting the shoulder, chest and hips, the belt often falls off a child’s shoulder and instead rests across their stomach. Both of these factors can lead to serious injuries in the event of a crash, including damage to the collar bone, spine and internal stomach wounds – often referred to as seat belt syndrome.

In order to prevent this happening, the huggybelt was invented. Designed to work alongside the compulsory booster/car seat for those aged 3-12, the huggybelt ensures your child is properly strapped in with the standard 3-point seat belt. Fixing to the existing belt and ISOFIX points, the huggybelt allows your seat belt to rest comfortably across a child’s shoulder and chest, without slipping or sliding as they move. It also comes with a shoulder rest, offering comfort to an area which most annoys kids wearing seat belts.

Easily transferable from left to right and car to car, this portable solution is one of the best ways to ensure your child makes the most of the adult-sized 3-point belt and is protected as best they can be.

Who knows what the next 50 years holds for the humble seat belt, but for now, make sure your child is properly protected by it with the help of a huggybelt.

Why Strap Your Kids in with huggybelt?

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We believe that kid’s safety is paramount, and the way to do that on the road is to ensure your child wears a huggybelt. With around 2,000 children killed or seriously injured on the roads each year – many as a result of improper seat belt use – it’s essential to offer your child the best protection available. After all, your kids’ safety isn’t expensive, it’s priceless.

Although EU regulations state that children up to 12 years of age should use a car seat, this alone isn’t the most effective way to ensure their safety when travelling. The car seats require the child to remain strapped in using the standard 3-point seat belt, which is often known to slide off when a child moves around the car. This is just one example of an improperly used seat belt.

  • Fittings Do's and Dont's 245% Less Chance of Injury

When a car is fitted with a huggybelt, your child is 45% less likely to sustain injury than with their seat belt and car seat alone. This is because the belt offers extra protection by ensuring the standard 3 point belt stays in its correct position over your child’s shoulder. If you take a look at our videos, you will see the difference on impact of a test dummy with a huggybelt, and one without.

  • Freedom of MovementWhy to choose Huggy Belt

Although the huggybelt ensures the seat belt performs correctly during your journey and in the event of a crash, the device itself doesn’t restrain your child any further. Kids strapped in with a huggybelt can still move freely, making the journey just as enjoyable, and allowing them to take part in all their regular in-car activities from playing games to watching movies.

  • Protection in Under a Minute

The huggybelt takes just 35 seconds to fit, which is no time at all to ensure your child is properly protected in your car. Working alongside your car seat, and fitting onto the standard 3-point seat belt, it offers additional protection for your child, and peace of mind for you. By clipping this onto your standard seat belt your child will also have a soft, protective cushioning over the chest and neck area. Seat belt discomfort here is just one of the reasons kids remove their belt from over their shoulder, leading to increased risk of injury. The design of huggybelt aims to combat that.

 

If you have any more questions about the huggybelt, check out our FAQs or get in touch today.