09/16/2019
IS YOUR CHILD IN THE RIGHT CAR SEAT?
The Vermont Department of Health, the Vermont Office of Highway Safety (Behavioral Safety Unit) and the Chittenden County SHARP group, are reminding all parents and caregivers that Child Passenger Safety Week is the perfect time to make sure their child is riding in a properly installed safety or booster seat.
Child Passenger Safety Week, which runs from Sept. 15-21, is dedicated to helping parents and caregivers make sure that their children ride as safely as possible every trip, every time. These events hope to raise awareness with parents and caregivers about the dangers children face when they are not buckled correctly by getting their car seats checked by a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician to make certain they are installed correctly.
We invite the press to our fitting station event which will occur at the Grand Isle County Sheriff’s Office during the Sheriff’s Department’s open house. The event is on Saturday, September 21 from 10am to 12pm, located at 10 Island Circle in the town of Grand Isle.
Vermont has 200 currently certified technicians and over 71 fitting stations where people can get their car seats fitted. We are encouraging our fitting stations to go out of their way this week to extend their hours. The following eight (8) fitting stations across the state will be open on Saturday, September 21, 2019 from 10am to 12pm:
Shelburne Police Department
Department of Children and Families (DCF) - Bennington
Orleans County Sheriff’s Department
Windsor Fire Department
Grand Isle County Sheriff’s Department
Chittenden County Sheriff’s Department
Colchester Police Department (held at Union Memorial School)
Lyndon Rescue
Local health department offices, sheriff's offices, police departments, Safe Kids chapters and other partners will host free car seat checks and classes across the state during CPS week, from September 15 until National Seat Check Saturday on September 21.
“Child passenger safety seats are designed to protect our youngest passengers in the event of a crash, but these seats cannot work as designed when they are not installed correctly,” said Sid Bradley, Coordinator of the Vermont Child Passenger Safety Program.
Lt. Allen Fortin, leader of the Chittenden County SHARP Group, said “We want to ensure that all children who are under eight years of age are riding in a correctly installed safety seat that is appropriate for their age and size.”
Every day in America, millions of parents and caregivers travel with children in their vehicles. While some children are properly buckled in the correct car seats for their ages and sizes, most are not. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 46 percent of car seats are misused. In addition, motor vehicle crashes are a leading killer of children, and car seats, booster seats and seat belts can make all the difference. In 2017, 312 children ages 0-5 were saved because they were properly restrained in a car seat.
