Safe Kids Kenai Peninsula has scheduled a spring break car seat check event at the Central Emergency Services location in Soldotna on 231 South Binkley Street. The event is conveniently scheduled for families who want to get the car seat checked during a time when the children aren’t in school.
The event is today (Thursday, March 10th) from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Crews will be checking the car seat setup, offer suggestions if needed, provide advice for next steps, and/or will have new seats on hand if you are in the market for a different seat. No appointment is needed and the event is free.
According to www.safealaskans.org, correctly using the appropriate car seat or booster seat significantly reduces the risk of serious or fatal injury to children in the event of a motor vehicle crash. Over the past three years, child passenger safety technicians across Alaska have conducted nearly 4,000 car seat checks. Statistics from this website show that 83% of car seats being checked were not installed correctly upon arrival.
The website states that Alaska implemented a Booster Seat Law in September 2009. A study was conducted prior to the law which found a baseline of 52% of booster-aged children properly restrained. After the law and a multi-pronged campaign, booster seat use has steadily shown improvement up to 79% use in 2013.
