The California Highway Patrol will be teaming up with AAA to
conduct free child passenger safety checkups Tuesday.
”
Eighty to 90 percent of child restraint seats are installed
improperly,
”
said CHP Public Affairs Officer Terry Mayes.
”
(The installation process) is very complex. That’s why we offer
this.
”
Five certified child passenger safety technicians will be at the
AAA office in Gilroy to check for proper installation and use of
child safety seats, according to a CHP-issued written
statement.
”
We recommend anyone with a child under 6 to come in,
”
Mayes said.
The California Highway Patrol will be teaming up with AAA to conduct free child passenger safety checkups Tuesday.
“Eighty to 90 percent of child restraint seats are installed improperly,” said CHP Public Affairs Officer Terry Mayes. “(The installation process) is very complex. That’s why we offer this.”
Five certified child passenger safety technicians will be at the AAA office in Gilroy to check for proper installation and use of child safety seats, according to a CHP-issued written statement.
“We recommend anyone with a child under 6 to come in,” Mayes said.
The check-up is intended to ensure child-safety, not to take any kind of enforcement action against individuals with erroneously installed child restraint seats, Mayes said.
“Our message is that we want to educate if someone is uncertain,” Mayes said.
CHP conducts car seat check-ups every Wednesday and lately has been booked solid with installation appointments, Mayes said. This is the first time they have had enough personnel to offer their services to the motoring public on a non-appointment basis, she said.
Children between the ages of 1 and 6, and between 20 to 60 pounds, are required by law to be restrained a in car seat. However, not every car seat is good for every child, Mayes said.
The importance of securing a child adequately in a car seat is paramount because an improperly restrained child could make a “little projectile right through a window,” Mayes said.
A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study showed that 61 percent of child deaths in a motor vehicles were due to the child being unrestrained, Mayes said. To exact a percentage of children who died or were injured due to improper restraints is difficult to pin down, she said.
“A significant amount of those deaths are due to improper use of a child restraint seat,” she said.
“We want people who come in with unsafe seats to know why they’re unsafe,” she said. “We won’t send that child away unprotected.”
The check up will take place at the AAA office in Gilroy between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., located at 1395 First St.
