Almost all new child safety seats have a metal clip, called a locking clip, attached to them. A few child safety seats have built-in locking clips.
A locking clip is used only to keep a certain type of shoulder/lap seat belt locked during normal driving conditions. It cannot be used on lap only belts!
The type of seat belt that requires a locking clip does not lock at either the retractor or the latch plate during normal driving. If the belt is not locked sufficiently, the car seat can be out of position in a crash resulting in serious injuries to the child.
When applying a locking clip to a seat belt:
- First, bring the seat belt through the child safety seat’s belt path.
- Buckle the seat belt and pull all slack out of the belt until the lap portion is tight.
- Hold the lap and shoulder portions of the seat belt together and unbuckle the seat belt (if this is not done, it will be hard to get the locking clip on the belt)
- Put the seat belt through the slots in the locking clip, one side at a time, approximately ˝-1 inch from the latch plate. (the latch plate is the “metal tongue” that is attached to one side of the seat belt webbing and is inserted into the buckle).
- Bring the seat belt with the locking clip back through the child safety seat and buckle the seat belt again. (It might take more than one try to get the locking clip on and the seat belt tight enough.)
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Closeup of locking clip
Locking clip placed near the latch plate
Image provided by NHTSA |
