LATCH, in the automotive world, means Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children. This system is widely used in vehicles with the goal of smoother installation of a child safety seat. Anchors like these are often used in conjunction with the car’s normal safety bet system. Using the safety belt and the LATCH anchors together allows parents to secure their child’s safety seat efficiently.
Town & Country wants Madison parents to understand how their vehicles’ LATCH systems are evaluated. A LATCH evaluation is something that vehicle boards have come up with in order to test a vehicle’s implementation of the LATCH system. Car manufacturers are incentivized by LATCH evaluations to make their systems as simple for parents to use as they can.
A LATCH evaluation has four parts, and it judges several factors of a vehicle’s LATCH system, including accessibility hardware, anchor location, installation angle and how much force parents must use to successfully tether the child safety seat. Easy to use LATCH systems will receive the highest scores after such an evaluation.