Rogers signs proclamation for child passenger safety
County Executive Kenneth Rogers has signed a proclamation supporting Child Passenger Safety Week in cooperation with the Upper Cumberland Development District and local law enforcement. The week is scheduled Feb. 8-14.
“It’s mainly just to create an awareness and get parents to buckle their children in,” said UCDD’s Ken Mabery. “And not only do it, but do it right.”
Rogers said he feels such programs are a good way to inform county residents and he personally supports them.
“I think it’s important,” Rogers said. “Sometimes parents aren’t aware of how to correctly hook up their children in these child restraints, and this can help them learn how to use these devices.”
As in previous years, the UCDD will be holding checkpoints where safety seats and restraints can be checked, and parents instructed on how to correctly install the devices and place the child in them. The UCDD will also be supplying brochures which will provide some basic information on what the program is about, and a brief synopsis of the new restraint laws which will go into effect this July.
Since there is a wide variety of brands and designs, Mabery said the UCDD program brochures won’t feature any kind of detailed instructions on installing restraints. Consumers are advised to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Even so, Mabery said parents should also visit UCDD-sponsored checkpoints to make sure they are installed properly and meet legal requirements.
“It’s best to have somebody there and train them one on one,” Mabery said.
Mabery pointed out some of the key points of the new child restraint laws.
“The two big changes,” Mabery said, “are the booster seats for children 4-8 years, and keeping children under 1-year-old and under 20 pounds rear-facing.”
The use of child restraints has produced some impressive statistics. According to the information in the Child Passenger Safety Week proclamation, child safety seats reduce the risk of death in crashes by 71 percent for infants, and 54 percent for toddlers 1-4 years old. The proclamation also reports that children age 4 to 7 who use booster seats are 59 percent less likely to be injured in a crash than children who were restrained only by a safety belt.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Lt. Jimmy Neal is a certified child passenger safety technician. Neal offered some pointers on how to effectively utilize child restraints.
“One of the most important things is to make sure the seat is actually secure,” he said, “and that the child is secure.”
Neal said many times the retainer clip on a restraint, which should go across the child’s chest, is sometimes out of place, down around the stomach area, or not tight enough. Also of great importance, according to Neal, is putting the child in the back seat when possible.
Child restraint checkpoints are held several times during the year and officials advised those interested to check with local health departments for locations and schedules.