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The Paulding County Sheriff's Office wants to remind you that FREE child seat inspection is happening at the Dallas Wal-Mart TOMORROW!!!

Sheriff's Office Hosts Free Car Seat Check

(Paulding County, GA) The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office will be conducting a FREE child safety seat check in the Wal-Mart parking lot located at 3615 Marietta Hwy Dallas, GA 30157 on Saturday, December 12, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Deputies from the Sheriff's Office will teach parents how to properly install and use safety seats.

If you have noticed the many buckles, straps, and tethers on today’s child safety, it is easy to see why so many child safety seats are not installed correctly. If not installed correctly, your child could sustain life threatening injuries in a vehicle crash.

“Car crashes remain the No. 1 killer of America’s children between the ages of 2 and 14,” said Andrew Turnage, public information coordinator with the Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute (GTIPI), an outreach unit of University of Georgia's Family and Consumer Sciences Extension funded by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. According to GTIPI, 4 out of 5 child safety seats are NOT correctly installed.

Statistics show that children in rural areas are more likely to die from improper child safety seat use than are children from big cities. “It’s not uncommon to see children standing in the seat of a moving vehicle looking right at you through the window,” said Paulding County Sheriff Gary Gulledge. “We also see mothers holding infant babies in their arms while travelling on the roadway.” Sheriff Gulledge also noted that holding a child in your arms will not protect them in a vehicle crash. A crash at 50 MPH (5 miles below the average posted speed limit) while holding a 20-pound baby will generate the same amount of force as a 1,000 pound object.

"While more than 90 percent of parents use child safety seats, the most common thing is that car seats are not installed correctly,” said Turnage. This is something that the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (H.E.A.T.) deputies are striving to change in Paulding County. The H.E.A.T. deputies will be training parents, grandparents, and caregivers how to properly install and use child safety seats.

"I would encourage the community to take advantage of this free opportunity provided by the H.E.A.T. Unit and Sheriff Gulledge," Turnage said. "Children who are NOT properly placed in child safety seats are 3 times more likely to be injured than those who are properly secured. The H.E.A.T unit's check event can help you be sure [your seat is installed] right," he said.

For more information about choosing the right seat for your child, proper installation, and other occupant safety issues such as teen or senior driving, visit the Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute’s website at www.ridesafegeorgia.org.
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