Phoenix Fire hosting car safety awareness event
Jun 14, 2013, 4:25 PM | Updated: 4:25 pm
PHOENIX — It turns out most people don’t actually know how to install their child car safety seats.
Recent inspections by the Phoenix Fire Department revealed that four out of every five child car safety seats were not installed correctly. They also found that one-third of children were riding in the wrong restraints for their age and size.
Phoenix Fire Department Cpt. Robert Johnson said installing the seats incorrectly can have serious implications.
“You don’t even have to get into a crash,” he said. “The car could just stop really fast and the seatbelts could actually hurt you if they don’t cross your body in the correct way.”
To help address the problem, the Phoenix Fire Department is hosting a free child car safety seat event Saturday at the Marketplace at Central shopping center, located at 217 E. Dunlap Ave. in Phoenix.
Certified car seat technicians will be on hand from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. to show people how to correctly install their child safety seats.
“They’re going to go over the guidelines of how to put the child in the seat properly and how to put the seat in the car properly,” he said. “If you’re not four-foot nine-inches, the seatbelts in the cars don’t fit you.”
The event is being hosted by Phoenix Vice Mayor Bill Gates, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and the Phoenix Fire Department.
