Eureka Safety Seat Check
I’m Ed Smith, a Eureka car accident lawyer. On Friday, September 22, 2017, officials from the Humboldt Area California Highway Patrol (CHP) along with employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gathered at the front of Eureka’s Target for what, at first glance, looked like a huge traffic stop. However, the event was all about making sure that local children are safe and properly secured while riding in motor vehicles
The Law
Per California State Law, children younger than eight years old are required to be secured in a car or booster seat while traveling on the road. The law may seem simple enough, but according to Humboldt officials, the simplicity is possibly deceptive.
Proper Installation
Cy May, a local CHP officer, told reporters that car seats, in her experience, are installed improperly around 75-80 percent of the time. May noted that, although the installation error may be minor, the mistake could lead to a major injury-causing malfunction in the event of a collision.
May said that the process of installing a car seat is “in-depth” and that the technicians at the event had to undergo an entire week of car seat installation training so that they could be certified in installing various types of children’s passenger safety seating.
The Event
The event, which ran all day, included technicians from the Humboldt Bay Fire Department, CHP, and HHS, who were at the ready in order to walk parents through the correct process for installing their car seats as well as properly buckling in their children.
May indicated that these events usually service around 20 to 30 different families, adding that this means that there are at least 20 to 30 kids who now ride in a safer vehicle. May added that events like these are held about twice per year, once in the spring and once in the fall and that they are partly organized by the Humboldt Car Seat Coalition.
Car Seat Stats
According to data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hundreds of children under the age of 12 die and more than 100,000 are injured in U.S. vehicle accidents every year. Of children who lose their lives in accidents for which the information is available, 35 percent are found to not be properly buckled up.
Additionally, one study discovered that an average of over 600,000 U.S. children aged 0-12 routinely ride in vehicles without proper safety restraints. CDC’s research shows that adults who don’t wear seatbelts are more likely to have children who are also improperly restrained, with 40 percent of children riding with unbuckled drivers being unsafely seated themselves.
More From Eureka Car Accident Lawyer, Ed Smith
Eureka Car Accident Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Eureka car accident lawyer. Vehicle collisions can be devastating. If you or a loved one has suffered injuries in an accident, please contact me at (707) 564-1900 or (800) 404-5400 for friendly and free advice with no obligation. I am also available online at AutoAccident.com.
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