CHILD CAR SEAT CHECKUP PLANNED SATURDAY

Is your child safety seat secured properly? Would you know how to check?

Cape Girardeau Safe Communities program and the city fire department will offer a free child safety seat checkup Saturday.

The checkup will be from 10 to noon at Fire Station No. 2 on Mount Auburn Road.

The safety check is the first one for the Safe Communities program. It is part of a kickoff for National Child Passenger Safety Week that begins Monday.

Sharee Galnore, coordinator for Safe Communities, said firefighters and police officers often find a lot of misuse with child safety seats. Offering a check for proper installation should help curb some of those problems.

"Sometimes what would seem reasonable and makes good sense doesn't," she said, because of the way seat belts are manufactured.

Child seats should have a tight fit and infant seats should be rear-facing. "You have to use them as they are intended," Galnore said.

Statistics show that motor vehicle-related injuries are the leading cause of death for children. In Missouri, 36 children younger than 5 died last year following motor vehicle accidents.

Those numbers show, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, that 80 percent of child safety seats are being used improperly.

Every vehicle has a different method for car safety seat installation, which could be part of the problem, Galnore said.

"Some are complicated enough that people do get very frustrated," trying to make sure the seat is installed properly," she said. "You invest a lot of money in the seats."

Thursday afternoon, an expectant mother whose child is due within a week stopped by the police station to ask if her car seat had been installed properly, Galnore said, adding: "If you're doing it for the first time, it seems very easy and simple but that's not the norm."

Safe Communities also offers tips on bicycle safety for young children. Safety Village is operated by the program, and it teaches proper bicycle safety, including wearing helmets.

For more information, contact Galnore at 335-7908.