Car Seat Safety
Our Car Seat
Safety Check
with Project Safe Seat
It's so much
easier than you think -- just forty-five minutes of your day
could save the precious cargo you carry every day. The men and
women who do these car seat checks aren't there to make you feel
like a bad parent for not knowing what to do or to scold you for
not doing it right. They are there to help you and to teach you
how to install your seats properly. We went on a car seat safety
check to find out exactly what goes on. Here's our visit to the
Lexington Fire Department's Station #20. These firefighters are
members of Project Safe Seat here in Lexington, Kentucky.
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2. Weigh in! Lt. Wells
then weighed and measured the girls to make sure their
car seats were appropriate for their height and weight. |
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3. Next was the
installation. Sherri Anne was showing us how to properly
install the locking clip (upper left). The picture
(lower left) shows what the locking clip and seat belt
look like once you've finished putting the clip on the
seat belt. You'll want to try to put the locking clip at
a place where it may be a little too tight to buckle the
first time. Once you try to buckle and can't quite get
it to "click", move the locking clip back just a little
and try again. |
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4. The next step was to
fit the cat seat snugly into the seat of the van. One
tip you can try for a car seat that slides a bit is to
try putting a piece of rubber shelf liner (right)
underneath your car seat. Remember: your car seat should
move no more than one inch (side to side). It's best if
you can get the car seat in so tightly that it doesn't
move at all. |
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This car seat had an
easier way to thread the seat belt through the back of
the seat. |
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5. Once the locking clip
was on the seat belt and the seat belt was threaded
through the car seat, it was time to actually buckle the
seat belt. You can put your knee in the car seat (See
Sherri Anne, right) and put your weight in the seat in
order to get a tighter fit with the seat belt. |
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6. The last part of our
car seat check was to put the child in the seat and make
sure the shoulder straps are tight enough and the chest
clip is in the right place. The chest clip should be
right at the child's armpits. The straps should be tight
enough so that you can get one finger between your child
and the strap (left). Once the technicians have gotten
the seats in properly, it's time to make sure the
parents can install the seats themselves. |
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This family is buckled up
safely. It takes about 45 minutes to have your seat
checked. If you live in the Lexington area and would
like to make an appointment for a seat check with
Project Safe Seat, please call (859) 455 - SEAT. |
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We'd like to thank The Lexington Firefighters who took time
out of their day to spend with us.
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