Every year, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Region 7, which includes Missouri, partners with local communities to hold Child Passenger Safety Week, which runs this year through Saturday, Sept. 21. The annual safety week ends with National Seat Check Saturday, a day for parents and caregivers to receive free instruction on how to correctly install and use the right car seats for their children, according to a press release.
Locations throughout the region will be offering free car seat inspections by certified child passenger safety technicians. Locations can be found visiting nhtsa.gov/CarSeatInspection. Technicians will check car seats, let caregivers know if their children are in the right seats for their ages and sizes and show them how to install the seats correctly.
“Unfortunately, many parents are overconfident about their car seats,” said Regional Administrator Susan DeCourcy. “They think they are protecting their kids, but statistically, nearly half of car seats are either the wrong seat for the child’s age and size or the seats are installed incorrectly. That puts children at risk.”
According to NHTSA, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children. Every day in 2022, an average of three children 13 and younger were killed in crashes, and another 429 were injured.
In 2022, 49% of the children killed while riding in light pick-up trucks were unrestrained, followed by 38% in SUVs, 34% in cars and 12% in vans.
NHTSA wants caregivers to know that it’s never safe to ride unbuckled in a passenger vehicle — no matter how short the trip or how big the vehicle. Bigger vehicles don’t protect child passengers, but properly used car seats, booster seats and seat belts do, states the release.
