Is Your Child Buckled Correctly?

There are rear-facing car seats, forward-facing car seats, belt-positioning booster seats and high back booster seats.  All these are critical in keeping a child safe in a vehicle, but they are not the most important factor.

Parents are the most important factor in ensuring that children are securely placed in the proper child safety seat for the child and the proper child safety seat for the vehicle.  On  Wednesday April 20 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service - Montague County will conduct a free child safety seat checkup event at the Montague County Sheriff’s Department  parking lot located at 111 S. Grand, Montague, TX. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service - Montague County is working in conjunction with the Texas Department of Transportation

Certified child passenger safety technicians will go over the checkup form with parents and point out what is correct and incorrect with each child safety seat. They will then properly install the child safety seats, take them back out, and then allow the parents to re-install them.  Inspections may take up to 30 minutes each, depending on how many pointers are given to the parents.

Four out of five car seats are used incorrectly.  Besides buckling a child in properly, there are other measures to take to help ensure child safety.  Put bags of groceries in the trunk of a car or in the very back of a sport utility vehicle or van. In a crash, cans and jars can turn into deadly projectiles.

Also, never place an infant in the front seat of a car especially with a passenger side air bag. The safest place for all children 12 and under is the back seat.  For families with more than one child, tips on the safest seat positions for all the children will be given out.

For more information on this event or if you are unable to make it to Montague County call the Wise County Extension office at 940/627-3341.  As a certified child passenger safety technician I am available by appointment to inspect car seats and educate parents/caregivers.