CGH Medical Center, along with on-site certified technicians from the Whiteside and Lee County Health Departments and the Sterling and Dixon Police Departments, will conduct a “National Seat Check Saturday” event on September 20, 2014, at the Rock Falls Fire Department, 1013 7th Avenue, Rock Falls, IL. Certified child passenger safety technicians will be on hand from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
They will check car seats for proper installation and advise parents and caregivers how to choose the right car seats and install them properly in their vehicles. The free event is part of CGH’s participation in National Child Passenger Safety Week–Sunday, September 14, through Saturday, September 20, 2014.
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children ages one to 13. Crash data, from the U. S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, shows that during the five-year period from 2007 to 2011, 3661 children were killed in car crashes. In addition, an estimated 634,000 children were injured, more than the population of Boston, MA.
“Children depend on their parents to keep them safe–every trip, every time,” said Sarah Stuepfert, CGH Pre-Hospital Department. “By attending the car seat event on September 20, parents and caregivers can be sure their kids are riding as safely as possible in their vehicle. There is no room for misuse.” Furthermore, she added, even if kids are in the right seat, sometimes they are not buckled in properly. And even worse, some are not buckled in at all.
In 2011, 36 percent of children under 13 in cars, SUV’s, vans, and pickups who died in crashes were not restrained at the time of the crashes.
The updated recommendations emphasize how important it is to keep children in each restraint type for as long as possible before moving them to the next type. For maximum child passenger safety, parents and caregivers should visit their local inspection station to ensure their child’s car seat is used properly:
- 1. Rear-Facing Seats: In the back seat from birth to the height and weight limit of the seat. Recommended up to two years old, but at a minimum age one and weight of 20 pounds.
- 2. Forward-Facing Seats: In the back seat when the child has reached the height or weight limit of the rear-facing seat, to about age four and 40-65 pounds.
- 3. Booster Seats: In the back seat from about age four to at least age eight.
- 4. Seat Belts: At age eight and older and taller than 4’9”.
- 5. All children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat.
- 6. As of January 1, 2012, seat belt use is required in all seating positions.
For questions or additional information about Seat Check Saturday, please call 815-625-0400, extension 5596, or email child.safety.seat@cghmc.com. For more information on Child Passenger Safety, visit www.nhtsa.gov or www.buckleupillinois.org.