MONROE - This week is Child Passenger Safety Week, and from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, Child Passenger Safety technicians will be present at the Swiss Colony parking lot to offer checkups to see if families are using the right restraint, whether it is a car seat, booster seat or seat belt.
The week comes as a reminder to remind parents and caregivers of the need to keep children of all ages properly restrained in the seat that meets the child's weight and height requirements.
"All it takes is following a few basic guidelines so parents and caregivers can determine which restraint system is best suited to protect their children in a vehicle," according to Beth Kindschi, coordinator of Monroe Area Safe Kids.
Car crashes remain the leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 14, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In efforts to reduce this, Safe Kids USA's multifaceted child passenger safety program - Safe Kids Buckle Up (SKBU) - has been working diligently for the last 14 years.
This year is particularly significant, officials said, because Safe Kids USA spent the course of a year collecting research data from 79,000 child safety seat inspections. A key finding in the Safe Kids USA research showed that less than one third of the forward-facing child seats arriving at seat check events used a top tether. A top tether is a strap at the top of the car seat that hooks to a tether anchor in the vehicle. It provides added protection to children by helping reduce the forward movement of child's head in a crash.
The week comes as a reminder to remind parents and caregivers of the need to keep children of all ages properly restrained in the seat that meets the child's weight and height requirements.
"All it takes is following a few basic guidelines so parents and caregivers can determine which restraint system is best suited to protect their children in a vehicle," according to Beth Kindschi, coordinator of Monroe Area Safe Kids.
Car crashes remain the leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 14, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In efforts to reduce this, Safe Kids USA's multifaceted child passenger safety program - Safe Kids Buckle Up (SKBU) - has been working diligently for the last 14 years.
This year is particularly significant, officials said, because Safe Kids USA spent the course of a year collecting research data from 79,000 child safety seat inspections. A key finding in the Safe Kids USA research showed that less than one third of the forward-facing child seats arriving at seat check events used a top tether. A top tether is a strap at the top of the car seat that hooks to a tether anchor in the vehicle. It provides added protection to children by helping reduce the forward movement of child's head in a crash.
