Safety fair features child car seat inspections

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

NEW MADRID -- Just having a safety seat for a child isn't enough. Parents have to make sure it's the correct seat for the age and weight of the child, plus the seat needs to be installed correctly.

"A lot of parents think that if their baby is in there and strapped down, they should be OK," said Tonya Carruth, executive director of the New Madrid County Resource Center. "But that isn't always the case.

And on Saturday, the Center will inspect car seats with Seat Check Saturday, which kicks off Child Passenger Safety Week. The inspections are one of the activities planned as a part of the Center's Safety Resource Fair, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Family Resource Center, located at 420 Virginia Ave. in New Madrid.

"We are having, for the most part, a car seat inspection day," said Carruth. "People can come to the fair and get their car seats checked to make sure they are installed correctly and none of the belts are loose."

Certified child passenger safety technicians will be on hand to inspect the seats to ensure correct usage and installation.

Also at the fair will be the Safe Kids Coalition from Cape Girardeau, which will assist with the inspections. "They're also going to bring information for bicycle safety and safety for children in general," said Carruth.

The Citizen Corps of New Madrid County will be there with disaster preparedness information; there will be health screenings, such as blood sugar and cholesterol checks for all ages; the fire truck will be on site for the children to see and climb on; and there will also be light refreshments and some children's activities.

Carruth pointed out that the fair is oriented to all ages and encouraged anyone to come out. Organizers are expecting a good crowd, she said.

The car seat inspections are the driving force around the safety fair, said Carruth. The Center has two certified passenger safety technicians and it has been about a year since the last certification, so organizers decided it would be a good thing to tie in with the national event Seat Check Saturday.

"It's a three-day training someone goes through, and it's very thorough," Carruth said of the training. Checks are also administered during normal business hours, and she noted that a lot of people don't realize the seat is not installed correctly.

That's backed by experience from working with parents, as well as research. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found that seven out of 10 children are improperly restrained.

Common mistakes, according to the NHTSA, include not using the correct seat for the child's size and age; placing the seat in the wrong direction; incorrect installation in relation to the vehicle's air bags; not securing or tightening the child safety seat's harness and crotch straps; improper use of locking clips for certain vehicle safety belts; not making sure the seat belts fit properly across the child when using the booster seat; and using a defective or broken seat.

Technicians on site Saturday will look for all of those things, said Carruth. She noted that, if a parent learns the safety seat a child is using is not correct, there will be some available for sale at Saturday's event.

"And all the car seats we have are sponsored by the Missouri Department of Transportation," she said.

For more information about the fair, call the Center at 573-748-2779.

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