Car seat safety seminar slated May 3

College Station Medical Center, State Farm Insurance, Texas AgriLife Extension Service Passenger Safety, Texas Department of Transportation and the Brazos Valley Injury Prevention Coalition has joined together to present the annual State Farm Car Seat Checkup Event.

The event will be held on Saturday, May 3, at The Med from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and according to Bev Kellner of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service Passenger Safety office, this will be the biggest event of the year.

Volunteer certified child passenger safety technicians from all around the Brazos Valley have agreed to participate and hope to be busy checking and installing seats all morning long. During the checkup event, certified child passenger safety technicians will perform a safety check on the seat itself, check for recall information, instruct parents on proper installation and assure proper fit of the harness on the child.

“We are extremely excited to hold this event at The Med,” said Rick Moore, RN/LP Trauma Service Coordinator. Moore, also a certified technician, noted that normally these checks are held in much more public areas, such as shopping centers, where traffic is heavier and always a safety concern. “Here at The Med we will be just as visible to the public, but since our parking lot is not fully utilized on weekends, traffic around the check stations will be minimal,” he said.

Statistically, 9 out of 10 car seats are found to be improperly installed. An improperly installed seat does not offer maximum protection to the child in the event of a crash.

In addition, the need for booster seats is often overlooked for older children (approximately 4-8 years old). “As technicians, we take a 3-day course to learn about child passenger safety. Every day of the course time is spent installing seats, and it is typically the last day before we get the installs 100 percent correct,” said Moore. “When a parent purchases a seat, all they get is an instruction booklet and a picture on the box. It's no wonder that so many are installed improperly. My kids are all older now, but I know for a fact that I never did install a seat properly,” added Moore.

Those who can't make it to the event or wish to have a seat checked or installed sooner can locate a Certified Child Safety Seat Technician in your area at www.buckleup.tamu.edu or contact Texas AgriLife Extension Service at 979-862-1782 or the Trauma Service Office at The Med at 979-680-5314.