DaimlerChrysler's SeatCheck Reminds Parents of Important Safety Seat Tips for Child Passenger Safety Week
February 12 2007 - 4:15PM
PR Newswire (US)
-- Motor vehicle crashes remain the number one killer of kids;
seven out of 10 children are not properly restrained AUBURN HILLS,
Mich., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motor vehicle crashes
remain the number one killer of kids and studies show that seven
out of 10 kids in child safety seats not properly buckled in. To
help parents and caregivers ensure their child seat is safely
installed and that they are properly buckled in, SeatCheck provides
easy access to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's
(NHTSA) child safety seat technician locator database. A national
public education campaign to provide parents with the resources to
properly secure their children when traveling in motor vehicles,
SeatCheck was created by DaimlerChrysler and its partners to inform
parents and caregivers about the need for child safety seat
inspections. The free service - available online at
http://www.seatcheck.org/ or by calling 1-866-SEATCHCK - connects
parents to the closest child safety seat inspection locations in
their community to have their child's safety seat inspected for
proper fit and use. In honor of NHTSA's annual Child Passenger
Safety Week, SeatCheck offers parents and caregivers the following
safety tips for ensuring proper fit and use of their child's safety
seat: * Infants must always be placed in rear-facing seats until
they are at least one year old and 20 lbs. If less than a year old
and more than 20 lbs., be sure they ride in a seat approved for
heavier babies and continue to ride rear-facing until at least one
year old. Children may ride rear-facing in many seats up to 35 lbs.
Never place a rear-facing infant seat in front of a passenger air
bag. * Once children are forward-facing, they should ride in a
forward-facing seat (convertible seat) until they reach
approximately 40 lbs. All children who have outgrown child safety
seats should be properly restrained in booster seats until they are
4'9" tall. * Old/used child safety seats should not be used unless
you are certain they have never been in a crash and you have all
the parts (including instructions). Seats six years old or older
should be discarded and never used. To check if your safety seat
has been recalled, check the seat recall list on
http://www.seatcheck.org/. * Always read both the vehicle owner's
manual and the instructions that come with the child safety seat. *
Vehicles and rear- and forward-facing child safety seats
manufactured after September 1, 2002, are equipped with LATCH
(Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) to help ease the
installation of child safety seats. For more information on LATCH,
visit http://www.seatcheck.org/. * Children 12 & under should
always be properly restrained in the back seat. * It's important to
remember that the "best" child safety seat is the one that
correctly fits the child, the vehicle, and is used correctly every
time. * Get your child safety seats checked to make sure it is
installed properly! About SeatCheck DaimlerChrysler works with
NHTSA, Graco Children's Products Inc., and AAA in efforts to raise
awareness about SeatCheck. In addition to the free inspection
locator service, the Web site offers parents useful information on
keeping kids safe in motor vehicles. Since 2002, SeatCheck has
successfully linked thousands of parents with certified inspectors
convenient to them. The SeatCheck Web site averages 370,000 hits a
month and the phone hotline receives more than 1,000 calls per
month. DaimlerChrysler Safety Programs DaimlerChrysler is committed
to keeping drivers and passengers safe when riding in motor
vehicles. The Corporation has a long history of developing
research-based education programs geared towards adults, teens and
children to complement vehicle-based technology and raise awareness
for automobile safety. DaimlerChrysler's current safety programs
address safe teen driving (http://www.roadreadyteens.org/) and
child passenger safety (http://www.seatcheck.org/). DATASOURCE:
Chrysler Group CONTACT: Kristin Tyll, +1-248-512-1954, ; or Max
Gates, +1-248-512-2688, , both of Chrysler Group Web site:
http://www.media.daimlerchrysler.com/
http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/ http://www.roadreadyteens.org/
http://www.seatcheck.org/
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