During this week, Safe Kids USA and certified child passenger safety technicians will take to the streets and begin inspecting whatever child seats they may find, with the target being set at 400 car seat checkup events.
This is not the first time such an event takes place, as since its inception in 1997 the so called Safe Kids Buckle Up organization inspected 1.28 million car seats, held 65,000 car seat checkup events around the country and donated around 457,000 car seats to families. According to the official figures, 21 million parents and caregivers have been educated in the proper use of child car seats.
“When it comes to child passenger safety, there is absolutely no room for error. It’s critical that parents and caregivers understand how to properly install their child seats in their vehicles,” said David Strickland, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) administrator.
“We urge parents to visit one of the thousands of seat check sites across the nation to ensure kids are safely buckled up – every trip, every time.”
This year's event was kicked off by a 2008 report from NHTSA that shows that children from up to age 1 were in a car seat 99 percent of the time, while children from ages 1-3 were in car seats 92 percent of the time. On the other hand, children aged in between 8-12 they are placed in a restraint only 85 percent of the time.
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