'Seat Check Saturday' Sept. 22 in Mt. Vernon, Centralia | Community Spirit

JEFFERSON COUNTY, IL (KFVS) - St. Mary's Good Samaritan will hold "Seat Check Saturday" on Saturday, September 22.

The event will be at the Kroger parking lot in Mt. Vernon from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the Walmart parking lot in Centralia from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Certified child passenger safety technicians will be on hand to check car seats for proper installation and advise parents, grandparents, and caregivers how to choose the right car seats and install them properly in their vehicles.  The event, part of St. Mary’s Good Samaritan’s participation in National Child Passenger Safety Week, September 16-22, is free to the public. This event is one of 80 Illinois events sponsored by AAA, Secretary of State, the Illinois Department of Transportation and St. Mary’s Good Samaritan.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 13. Crash data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for 2010 shows that about two children 12 or younger were killed and 325 were injured each day in passenger vehicles. 

The focus of this year’s Child Passenger Safety Week in Illinois is increasing awareness with grandparents.  Research recently released by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia indicates that grandparents are less likely to follow best practice guidelines for transporting their grandchildren, which could put them at greater risk for injury or death in the event of a crash. Stacy Minor, RN for Good Samaritan Regional Health Center OB Department says, “Grandparents are encouraged to attend our check event. We look forward to helping them install their car seats and learn more about best practices for transporting their most precious cargo.” 

“You can never predict or control what other drivers might do or how the weather might change the safety of a roadway,” says Pat Baker, Director of OB for St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia. “The best way to protect your kids is to put them in the right car seats for their age and size and use those seats correctly on every trip, every time.  By attending St. Mary’s Good Samaritan’s car seat event on National Seat Check Saturday, parents, grandparents, and caregivers can be sure their kids are riding as safely as possible.”

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 safety 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 2 years old, but at a minimum age 1 and 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 4 and 40-65 pounds.
3. Booster Seats: In the back seat from about age 4 to at least age 8.
4. Safety Belts: At age 8 and older and taller than 4’9’’

Remember: All children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat. As of January 1, 2012, safety belt use is required in all seating positions.

For more information on Child Passenger Safety visit http://www.nhtsa.gov or www.buckleupillinois.org.  

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