(Oneida, NY – Aug. 2015) The final Child Car Seat Check of the year will be held during National Child Passenger Safety Week on Wednesday, Sept. 16 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Wal-mart in Oneida. (The rain date is the following Wednesday at the same time). This event is sponsored by the Madison County Health Department, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, and the NYS Police with funding from the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.
A few quick reminders:
*Don’t be in a rush to move a child to the next stage (for example: rear-facing to forward-facing, or a 5-point harness to a belt-positioning booster seat). They are safest in the stage they’re in until they can’t be in it anymore. When the child outgrows their current seat/stage by height and weight, then you know it’s time for them to move to the next seat/stage.
*Kids age 12 and under should ride in the back seat. (The back seat is safer than the front seat.) Also, air bags in the front seat are made for adults, so if an air bag deploys when a child is riding in the front seat, they can be seriously injured or worse.
*Children are required by New York State Law to ride in an appropriate child safety seat until their 8thbirthday.
*Seat belts are made for adults. It is recommended that a child ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they can properly fit in the seat belt, which is usually 4’9” tall and 100 pounds. So even after a child turns 8 years old, it is often appropriate and safest to keep them in a belt-positioning booster seat. Some children benefit from a booster seat until they are 12 years old, depending on their size.
*Do not use a child safety seat a used seat that you do not know the history of or a seat that is more than 6 years old.
For more answers to frequently asked questions, visit: http://www.healthymadisoncounty.org/programs/comm-carseat.htm.