All parents know the value of car seats. And despite the fact that these are critical protectors for your children if involved in an accident, many car seats are not installed correctly or the right size for the child. This can mean deadly or severe injuries in the event of an accident. Parents with multiple children face even bigger challenges since they have to ensure that multiple car seats are safely fitted into the vehicle.

A new study reveals that not even half of the vehicles classified as an SUV that claim to hold three car seats, truly can in a safe manner. These findings were not even limited to five-seat cars. Many of the cars advertised to hold up to eight seats and having as many as three rows were identified as being incapable of holding an appropriate number of car seats.

What Car? tested 16 different SUVs with three different children, and each child used the same car seat across the vehicles. Parents should be careful when purchasing a family car to ensure that it has the right number of seating. Parents must check that their child seats will fit safely into a car before purchasing it. A handful of vehicles that were able to safely hold three car seats in one row included the Volkswagen Touran, the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso and the Audi Q7.

Car seats are a mandatory and invaluable part of raising a child and protecting him or her in the event of an accident. Car seats should be fitted appropriately to the child in question and should also be safely secured in the car.