'Alarmed' expert urges parents to avoid popular car seat accessory during heatwave

Dec 10, 2023

Parents who have installed safety devices in their car to keep an eye on babies and young children are being urged to check the products over fears they could pose a serious health risk

Parents are being urged to check their cars and installed safety devices over fears that mirrored products could pose a serious risk.

An expert shared a warning for British families after an incident abroad saw a mum return to her car to find smoke billowing from her child's booster seat.

Thankfully, the youngster was not inside the vehicle at the time and nobody was harmed.

But people expressed fear the story could have had a much worse outcome under different circumstances, after the terrifying video was shared online.

In the clip, the mum captured every parent's worst nightmare on camera. When Natasha Furlong, from Canada, returned to her car, she was stunned to find several holes burned into her daughter's car seat.

After recording the smoke, she pointed out that she'd fitted an infant mirror on the headrest opposite the car seat - to keep an eye on her child. In her recording, she said she believed the mirror caused the fire.

Graham Conway, Managing Director at Select Car Leasing hopes the clip will serve as a warning to parents who use similar products. He told the Mirror: "This TikTok post is extremely alarming and all parents who make use of a baby car seat mirror should heed the warning, particularly as the UK heads into the warmest months of the year.

"If you think this could only happen in America, where this TikTok post originated, think again, particularly as the UK experienced record-breaking temperature highs of 40.3C in the summer of 2022.

"It's also concerning to think what might have happened had the child been asleep inside the seat, perhaps during a long journey."

However, he also acknowledged there are many reasons why a parent may want to install such products.

"Hearing a baby cry in the backseat of a car can make a parent feel helpless, which is why so many people find comfort in using a baby car seat mirror.

"They make use of a car's rear-view mirror to allow parents to see babies sitting in rear-facing car seats. But that convenience doesn't come without risks," he noted.

"My advice would be to invest in good car sunshades, to cover all of the windows in the rear of the car, to prevent the sun from shining so brightly through the glass.

"Or it simply might be advisable not to use a mirror at all. You should certainly remain alert to the dangers of a concentrated sunbeam if you do choose to continue using a mirror."

If you plan to use mirrors, he advised drivers to think carefully about the placement - and remember there are other risks.

"Although these mirrors provide a way for parents to be able to see their child better, it can be a tempting distraction, encouraging parents to look away from the road. Any time a driver's eyes are taken away from the road, it puts themselves, their passengers, and other road users at risk.

"While this case of a mirror igniting a car seat is a rarity, parents should think carefully about where they install the mirrors, and what measures are in place to limit any potential damage caused by the sun."

Sharing general guidance on the potential risk mirrors pose, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue previously stated: "Where you have a mirror or any other glass object, such as an ornament, that is curved, this allows the glass to act as a lens. When the sunlight hits it, it becomes concentrated and, if the rays are bounced onto something flammable (such as curtains or soft furnishings) then a fire can start.

"The principle is the same as using a magnifying glass to start a fire. It does depend on the angle of the sun, but any mirror or glass ornament with a curve in it should never be left on a windowsill or by a window."

The service said it shared the warning after being called "to a number of fires in recent years where the most likely cause was sunlight reflecting off a mirror."

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