According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, three out of four child safety seats are improperly installed in cars and trucks, and state police in Pennsylvania are hoping to fix as many of them as possible.
Sunday marked the beginning of National Child Passenger Safety Week, and Pennsylvania State Police are teaming up with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to offer 145 safety seat check up events throughout the state.
In Allegheny County, officers will set up a check station in the parking lot of the State Police Station from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at 499 McCormick Rd in Moon Township. Afull list of locations can be found online.
“The goal of the week is to educate the public on the importance of having a properly installed child safety seat,” PennDOT spokeswoman Ashley Schoch said. “Pennsylvania State Police will be providing free of charge seat checks. You can bring your car seat in the vehicle to these checks, and we’re going to make sure it’s installed properly.”
Pennsylvania State Trooper Adam Reed said the first step to making sure a car seat is properly installed is to read not only the instructions included with the seat, but also your car’s owner’s manual.
“It’s also important to take a look at the instructions for the seat to make sure that that child is in the appropriate age, weight and height bracket for that seat,” Reed said.
Last year during Child Passenger Safety Week officers inspected more than 5,000 car seats.
According to Pennsylvania law, children under the age of 4 must ride in a federally approved car seat. Children between the ages of 4 and 8 must sit in a booster seat if they no longer ride in a car seat.
