Nation’s Top Highway Safety Chief Urges Parents And Care Givers to Get Their Child Safety Seats Checked |
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Topics: Nicole R. Nason
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
September 14, 2007
NHTSA 16-07
Friday, September 14, 2007
Contact: Heather Hopkins
Telephone: (202) 366-9550
Administrator Nicole R. Nason of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) urged parents and caregivers to make sure their car seats and boosters seats are properly installed in their vehicles and to learn how to buckle their children in the seats correctly.
Nason noted that parents will be able to get seats checked at thousands of seat inspection stations being set up starting this Saturday as part of Child Passenger Safety Week.
“The easiest thing parents can do to keep their small children safe in a vehicle is to make sure they’re buckled in a properly installed child safety seat,” said Nason. “Parents and caregivers should take this week to make sure that children are protected when in a vehicle.”
Nason noted that parents should use this week to work with the more than 30,000 certified child passenger safety seat technicians to learn how to properly install child safety seats. NHTSA research shows that approximately 7,000 lives have been saved by the proper use of child restraints during the past 20 years. For additional information or to find an inspection site near you visit www.nhtsa.gov or www.safekids.org.
“Buckling your child in a properly installed car seat or booster seat can be a struggle for even the most experienced parent,” said Nason. “These seat check inspection stations are an invaluable service to caregivers to learn the proper steps and instill confidence that their child is as safe as they can be in the car.”
Nason noted that NHTSA is working to make child safety seats easier to install. As early as next year, consumers will benefit from more stringent child safety seat Ease of Use ratings. The agency plans to test child safety seats according to stricter criteria and replace its current letter ranking system. NHTSA and its partners also will launch an education program to improve consumer awareness of Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH), a mounting system required in motor vehicles to make child safety seat installation easier. Many of these changes are the result of the meeting NHTSA held in February with vehicle manufacturers, car seat manufacturers, retailers and consumer groups to discuss ways to improve child passenger safety.