LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Kathryn Weil Center for Education will offer free child safety seat inspections from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20. The inspections will be in the back parking lot of the Medical Arts Building, 415 N. 26th Street, Lafayette, IN on the Home Hospital campus.
The inspections are free, but appointments are required and can be made by calling the center at (765) 449-5133.
The inspections are part of the second annual “National Seat Check Saturday” and are a held in observation of National Child Passenger Safety Week from Sept. 21-27.
“It is the responsibility of every parent and caregiver to make sure their children are safely restrained – every trip, every time,” said Shelly Tansey, a certified child passenger safety technician with the Kathryn Weil Center for Education. “Often times, parents and caregivers are completely unaware they installed a car seat incorrectly, or they have moved their school-age child from a child restraint to a seat belt prematurely, completely skipping the booster seat stage,” said Tansey. “We are urging everyone to get their child safety seats inspected.”
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration research, in 2006 an estimated 425 lives were saved by child restraint use in children under 5. Research shows that child restraints provide the best protection for all children up to age 8; after age 8 seat belts provide the best protection. A study by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has shown that children ages 4 through 7 who use booster seats are 59 percent less likely to be injured in a car crash than children who are restrained only by seat belts.
For more information on Child Passenger Safety Week, please visit www.nhtsa.gov.
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