PULLMAN, Wash. — Is the child car seat in your vehicle is installed correctly? Quite often they are not, according to a recent clinic held here.
At Pullman’s Chipman-Taylor Chevrolet-Olds, during a car seat safety clinic, five child passenger safety technicians evaluated 47 car seats and three booster seats for installation and safety. “Most seats were found to have some installation problems,” said Theresa M. Memmel, a Washington State University Police Department officer. However, the booster seats were correctly installed.
Memmell said the Dec. 10 clinic was a success because not only were car seats currently in use inspected and, if needed, installed correctly, but several expectant parents came to the clinic. They received a demonstration on how to install seats so their newborns could ride safely home from the hospital and be transported elsewhere.
During the clinic, the Whitman County Safe Kids Coalition distributed nine new convertible seats and three booster seats. Children between 5-40 pounds can use convertible seats. Booster seats are for children 40-80 pounds. A grant to the Whitman County Health Department purchased the seats. Donations to the coalition came from financially able parents.
WSU Police interns assisted with clinic traffic control, set-up and serving as scribes for technicians. In addition to the WSU Police, the clinic included Whitman County Sheriff’s Department, the Washington State Patrol Colfax Detachment and the Colfax Fire Department representatives and volunteers Krystal Flyum and Erin Walter.
Now on display in the Chipman-Taylor showroom, the Washington State Safe Kids Coalition “Ventura Mobile Car Seat Check-up Van” helped promote the clinic and future clinics, which are planned quarterly.
For more information on clinics or to have a car seat checked by a technician in their area, parents or parents-to-be may contact the WSU Police, 509/335-8548.
