Child Safety Inspections for Autos

Attention:

ALL those transporting children in motor vehicles!

Hamilton Township Police Division has three trained child safety seat technicians to inspect your car seats and advise you on the safe way to travel with children.

• Are you expectant parents and need advice on car seats?
• Does that child seat tip over every time you turn a corner?
• Are there multiple children of different ages?
• Where do they sit?
• Did you get that car seat at a yard sale?
• Is it safe?
• Is it recalled?
• Did you follow the instruction book and the car seat still does not seem to fit right?
• Is your child getting too big for the car seat?
  

Consider this ...

From PARENTS magazine (The Parent Trap, Buckle Them Up Longer) March 2000.

Is anybody listening? Parents cite their kids' safety as a top concern, but an alarming number of moms and dads don't do one simple thing that can help keep their children out of danger: insist on safety seats. Our survey found that the vast majority of parents-96 percent-do not use a booster seat for their older children, even though most of them are well aware that safety experts say they should do so until a child weighs about 60 pounds, usually at around age 8. Almost three quarters of parents say their kids abandon the booster seat between the ages of 4 and 6. One in five kids are out of a booster by age 3.

"Unfortunately, the booster seat is a critical step that most parents skip," says Heather Paul, executive director of the National Safe Kids Campaign. "Parents need to be aware that adult seat belts don't fit children properly and are often misused. This puts them at high risk for abdominal, spinal-cord, and neck injuries. Parents need to pay special attention to restraints for their 4- to 8- years-olds and keep them safely secured in booster seats whenever they're in the car."

Call the Traffic Office at 581-4024 Mon. thru Fri. 8:00am to 3:00pm to schedule an appointment with an Officer and check this web site for information on Child Car Safety Seat Checkups in the area.

Hamilton Police Division James W. Collins, Chief of Police