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MyBuckleMate: Makes Buckling up in the Back Seat a Snap!

A sleek housing that keeps back seat buckles propped up and easy to reach so buckling up is a snap, whether you're 6 years old or 60!

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MyBuckleMate: Makes Buckling up in the Back Seat a Snap!

MyBuckleMate: Makes Buckling up in the Back Seat a Snap!

MyBuckleMate: Makes Buckling up in the Back Seat a Snap!

MyBuckleMate: Makes Buckling up in the Back Seat a Snap!

MyBuckleMate: Makes Buckling up in the Back Seat a Snap!

A sleek housing that keeps back seat buckles propped up and easy to reach so buckling up is a snap, whether you're 6 years old or 60!

A sleek housing that keeps back seat buckles propped up and easy to reach so buckling up is a snap, whether you're 6 years old or 60!

A sleek housing that keeps back seat buckles propped up and easy to reach so buckling up is a snap, whether you're 6 years old or 60!

A sleek housing that keeps back seat buckles propped up and easy to reach so buckling up is a snap, whether you're 6 years old or 60!

Meghan Khaitan
Meghan Khaitan
Meghan Khaitan
Meghan Khaitan
1 Campaign |
Ashburn, United States
$1,106 USD 30 backers
11% of $10,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Choose your Perk

Route 66 Limited Edition

$15 USD
Est. Shipping
January 2014
12 out of 200 of claimed

Pacific Coast Highway

$17 USD
Est. Shipping
January 2014
3 claimed

Extraterrestrial Highway

$32 USD
Est. Shipping
January 2014
2 claimed

Million Dollar Highway

$45 USD
Est. Shipping
January 2014
7 claimed

Great News!  We're ahead of schedule!  We will ship MyBuckleMate in time for the holidays!

See MyMuckleMate featured on Cars.com's Kicking Tires - the blog for car buyers.  http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2013/10/mybucklemate-makes-seat-belts-a-snap-for-kids.html

Loudoun Times Mirror:  Ashburn Couple Snaps Idea into Place  http://www.loudountimes.com/news/article/ashburn_couple_snaps_idea_into_place

MyBuckleMate:  A sleek, plastic housing that keeps back seat buckles propped up and easy to reach so you can buckle up one-handed, whether you’re 6 years old or 60!

 

What is MyBuckleMate?

MyBucklemate locks into place around floppy back seat buckle bases and keeps them propped up and easy to reach, so buckling up with one hand is a snap.  It fits around single buckle bases, and two MyBuckleMates can be installed right next to each other to keep adjacent buckle bases propped up for easy access.  If you have a car, SUV or truck with back seat buckles that flop around or fall into seat pockets, MyBuckleMate makes buckling up in the back seat as easy as it is to do in the driver's seat.  Rather than dig for your buckle base with one hand and reach for the strap with your other, you can simply pull your seat belt strap across your body and click the buckle into place with just one hand.  Even our 5-year old can do it! 

 

MyBuckleMate benefits

  • Helps kids buckle up in the back seat by themselves
  • Helps adults with limited mobility and Arthritis
  • Fits in tight spaces and between booster seats
  • Works in vehicles that don’t have rigid buckle bases that stay propped upright on their own
  • You can fold your car seats down without removing MyBuckleMate
  • It won’t interfere with your vehicle’s buckling mechanism.  It locks into place around the fabric shaft that anchors the back-seat buckle base to your vehicle - it doesn’t obstruct the buckle’s release button or where the buckle latchplate clicks into place. 

Why is buckling up in the back seat so difficult?

Back seat buckles are hard for little and big hands to grasp and click into place.  Most aren't made like driver-seat buckles.  If you've driven a car with floppy buckles, you know:  The buckles flop around.  They fall into seat pockets.  And when you add booster seats to the mix, you practically need three hands to buckle up.  We think it should be just as easy to buckle up in the back seat as it is to do in the driver's seat - whether you're 6 years old or 60.



MyBuckleMate story

One day my husband came home with our three kids and asked, “What’s the deal?  Why can’t they buckle themselves?”  I'd been climbing into the back seats of our cars and in and over our kids and their friends just to help them buckle up for years, and I'd always taken it for granted.  That day, I realized there had to be a way to make floppy buckles easy for kids and adults to use.  That's how MyBuckleMate was conceived.

We started by sketching out our initial design ideas on paper, refined them using CAD freeware, then partnered with a Wisconsin-based product design and plastics manufacturer to build and refine several prototypes.  After vetting and road-testing these with potential customers, we now have a final production model ready to be manufactured in the US and shipped within 8 weeks of the close of our campaign.  MyBuckleMate is patent pending and an original design - nothing like it exists on the market today. 

Which cars will MyBuckleMate work in?

If your car's rear seats have floppy buckles like those shown in the photos above, MyBuckleMate will likely work in your car.  We've tested it out in many cars, but with hundreds of vehicle makes and models on the road, we haven't tried it in all of them yet, and we'll be adding new ones to the list every week.  Below are the cars and trucks we know it works well in (if you have one to add, please email us - we appreciate the feedback)!  All makes listed here are 2013 models unless otherwise noted.  

Acura:  TL, RL (2012 and prior years), MDX (2nd row middle buckle), RLX (2nd row middle buckle)

Cadillac: Escalade

Chevy:  Suburban, Tahoe, Impala

Chrysler:  Town & Country (3rd row)

Dodge:  Grand Caravan (3rd row), Laramie, Ram, Durango SUV (2nd row middle buckle)

Ford:  Flex (2nd row floppy buckle), F-150, Fiesta

GMC: Terrain, Yukon 

Honda:  Accord, Civic, Pilot, Odyssey (third row) 

Hyundai: Azera, Elantra, Sonata, Tucson, Santa Fe

Jeep:  Patriot, Wrangler, Grand Cherokee (2012 and earlier)

Kia:  Cadenza

Mazda:  CX-9

Mercedes: GLX and C-Class (2nd row middle buckle)

Nissan: Maxima, Altima, Versa

Subaru:  Tribeca

Toyota:  Sequoia and Highlander (2nd row middle buckle and third row buckles), Four Runner (second row middle buckle) - in model years prior to 2007

How MyBuckleMate Helps

We all cut corners to save time, but failing to buckle-up for any reason is a mistake.  Especially when we’re driving just a few blocks or we have a car full of kids and we’re running late, we've learned that when it’s easier to buckle-up, we’re more apt to do it and not skip it.  It makes a huge difference for kids:  We believe kids who are able to buckle up easily on their own are more likely to create a habit they’ll carry through their teenage years and beyond.   

Buckling up in the back seat isn't always a hassle, but when you have a carload of passengers, and lots of other tasks at hand, MyBuckleMate is a huge help. 

Now, when we get in the car, we don’t hear our kids shout, “I can’t buckle!”  Instead, we hear reassuring clicks of them buckling-up themselves and back-seat driver comments like, “Mom, Dad, are you guys buckled yet?”

When we’re driving really young ones who can’t buckle up alone, MyBuckleMate allows us to click in their buckles with one hand without having to climb into the back seat to help them.  We like being able to keep both feet firmly planted on the ground, and still get on the road safely and on time.  

Perks

As a supporter, you'll receive one or more sets of MyBuckleMates in your choice of three colors:  Cream, Black and Tan.  Each set will include one pair of MyBuckleMates to accommodate two back-seat passengers.  Since MyBuckleMate is made of two identical, symmetrical pieces, you have the option to interchange parts from different colored sets to create your own two-colored MyBuckleMate (like you see in the Mix-n-match Combo below).  At the end of our campaign, we will send a survey out to each of our supporters in which they may select the color(s) they want. 

 

Our goal

To get everyone to buckle up in back seats easily, we need your support.  The $10,000 we hope to raise will help pay for the cost of our first full production run of MyBuckleMates.

MyBuckleMate is patent pending and will be manufactured in the US.  That means our design and production costs are substantially higher than they would be overseas, but we made a conscious decision to go the made in USA route for many reasons, especially to better control the quality, production and delivery of each MyBuckleMate.  We are extremely satisfied with our design/manufacturing partner’s quality, reliability and commitment so far.  Our biggest challenge now is bringing MyBuckleMate successfully to market.

If you like MyBuckleMate, tell us why!  Like us on Facebook and share this site with anyone who you think may be interested.  We hope to introduce our idea to as many people as possible and we are excited to hear how it works in your cars.

Thanks for helping us get on the road!


MyBuckleMate News and Reviews

See MyMuckleMate featured on Cars.com's Kicking Tires - the blog for car buyers.  

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2013/10/mybucklemate-makes-seat-belts-a-snap-for-kids.html

Loudoun Times Mirror:  Ashburn Couple Snaps Idea into Place http://www.loudountimes.com/news/article/ashburn_couple_snaps_idea_into_place


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