Protecting children the focus of Child Passenger Safety Week

ATLANTA — The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety is joining the Georgia Department of Public Health Office of Injury Prevention, to encourage parents and caregivers across Georgia to make sure their precious cargo is riding in a properly-installed car seat or booster seat.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has designated Sept. 15-21 as National Child Passenger Safety Week and for this week, GOHS, DPH and certified child passenger safety technicians will be raising awareness about the importance of properly securing children in vehicles while checking seats to make sure they are installed properly.

CPS Week is dedicated to teaching parents and caregivers about the importance of correctly choosing, installing, and using car seats, booster seats, and seat belts because car crashes are still a leading cause of death for children. In 2022, nearly 1 out of 5 children under 8 years of age involved in motor vehicle crashes was reported to have transitioned too early from a child restraint system (as required by law) to a seat belt restraint system.

This year, educational events will be held throughout Georgia in local communities. GOHS, DPH and local partners will host in-person events: Wednesday at Walmart on Veterans Parkway in Moultrie from 5-8 p.m., and at Southern Pines Regional Park in Dublin for Safety Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Anyone who transports a child in these areas is encouraged to stop by for a free seat check during these hours. The Safety Saturday event in Dublin will also invite people of all ages to take a ride on the GOHS Seat Belt Convincer and watch a demonstration with the GOHS Rollover Simulator.

In addition to instructing parents and caregivers on how to install and use car/booster seats correctly, technicians also help determine if children are in the right seat for their age, height and weight and explain the importance of registering car seats with their manufacturer to ensure recall notifications if they occur.

“Properly installed car seats can make a critical difference in saving the life of a child in the event of a crash,” Allen Poole, the director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said. “We encourage all parents, grandparents, and adult child caregivers to take advantage of the events available this week to ensure their child’s safety seat is correctly installed and provides maximum protection.”

Georgia state law requires children under 8 years of age to be restrained in a car seat or booster seat appropriate for the child based on the manufacturer recommendations based on child’s height and weight. Research shows car seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% with infants and 54% with toddlers in passenger vehicles. After outgrowing the forward-facing car seat with harness, children should be placed in booster seats until they’re the right size to use seat belts safely. And if children are under 13 years old, they should always sit in the back seat.

“On average, more than half of the car seats technicians and law enforcement encounter on the road are installed incorrectly,” Traci Napier Reece, the program manager for the Child Occupant Safety Program at the Georgia Department of Public Health, said. “If you are unable to attend one of the statewide events scheduled for CPS Week, parents and caregivers are encouraged to contact a fitting station near them for an appointment to determine if their car seats and booster seats are appropriate for their child’s age and size and are installed correctly.”

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