Parents can learn about car seats at event

Parents who are flustered over how to install a car or booster seat for kids or who want some clarification on state laws around which kids need to be in safety seats can stop by the car seat check-up on Sept. 21, in the Kmart parking lot, 491 Tres Pinos Road, from 2 to 5 p.m. The event is part of Child Passenger Safety Week Sept. 16-22.
The staff members will have some low-cost car seat and booster seats available for families that have an expired or recalled car seat available on a first come, first served basis.
Since Erika Vallin started conducting outreach in the community in March as part of a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, she said she has seen a lot of confusion over how to best install the seats, which kids need to be in what type of seat and when it is time to move a child over to a regular seat belt.
“The number one thing I see is the chest clip is not at the armpit level,” Vallin said, of the clip that buckles the harness together across the child.
For the car seat check-up on Sept. 21, safety officials will look at how the seat is installed with the child inside so they can see if the harnesses fit properly. The event is a collaboration among County Public Health, the California Highway Patrol and Child Injury Prevention Services.
Vallin said that nationally, three out of four car or booster seats are not installed properly. Car accidents remain the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 12, but the proper installation can lower the risk.
“I always recommend people read the car seat manual and the car manual,” Vallin said. “All cars have different locking systems. A lot of times as parents they think they are doing the right thing, but they are not using those directions.”
Since March 2012, Vallin has been meeting with members of the public to teach them about the different types of car seats as well as a California law that went into effect Jan. 1 that requires students to be in a booster seat until they are 8 years old or at least 4’9”.
Many families in the groups Vallin has met with in the last months are not aware of the new law. She has held training sessions at First 5, the San Benito Health Foundation, a migrant housing site and others.
As part of the grant, Vallin has worked with Judge Steven Sanders to put together a diversion program for those families that receive a citation for not having a child in the proper seats. Vallin said she had four people in her first class session, which lasted three hours and included information on why car seats are important.
“The benefit, at least initially is it reduces the cost of the fine,” Sanders said. “We’ve kind of set it up as a benefit to the people that participate. … The key point is to get people to become more educated about the importance of properly restraining their children.”
He said he can relate to the struggles parents might have to keep kids in the seats because as a parent he had to keep his children in the seats, too.
“We were just adamant so our children learned,” he said. “They got pretty used to it.”
San Benito Health Officer Alvaro Garza said without the grant the office would not be able to offer such services.
“It’s our mission to prevent disease and injury,” he said.
Both Garza and Sanders also encouraged parents to wear their safety belts so they can be safe in an accident, too. The California Highway Patrol is conducting a “Saved by the Seatbelt” campaign to encourage older children and adults to wear their seatbelts.
“It’s been an evolution,” Garza said. “First it was just seat belts, but over years of analyzing and studying who was protected it’s become an important initiative.”
For more on the car seat safety check up or the diversion program, call 637-5367.