INCORRECTLY FITTED CHILD CAR SEATS MAJOR CAUSE FOR CONCERN IN GALWAY
Research from the Road Safety Authority’s ‘Check it Fits’ Service in partnership with Toyota, which checks child car seats and restraints nationwide for free, has revealed that 4 out of 5 child car seats are incorrectly fitted nationwide.
Since October 2013, the RSA’s ‘Check it Fits’ Service in partnership with Toyota has checked over 30,000 child car seats and restraints in Ireland. Worryingly in Ireland, 79% of seats required a major adjustment, of which 3% were deemed not fit for purpose and condemned, meaning they could have caused injury or even death in the event of a collision.
To help address this problem, the RSA ‘Check it Fits’ service will be at Tony Burke Motors, Toyota Dealership in Ballybrit, Wednesday 27th February from 10am to 5.30pm where child car seat installation experts will be available to ensure car seats and restraints are correctly fitted. The service takes between 10-15 minutes, is free of charge and offers parents and guardians reassurance that their child is safe while travelling in the car. If your child’s car seat or restraint is incorrectly fitted, the ‘Check it Fits’ experts will advise on how to fix the problem, demonstrate how to fit the restraint correctly and answer any queries participants might have to avoid potential serious or fatal injury in the event of a collision
Aisling Sloyan, Senior Road Safety Promotion Officer for the RSA commented:
“Almost 2 out of 5 children killed are passengers and Garda reports into collisions indicate that 1 in 10 children were not wearing a seatbelt or using a child restraint in 2014. More recent statistics have shown an increase in child passenger fatalities on the road. The reality is that if a child’s car seat isn’t fitted correctly, it could lead to a serious or fatal injury in the event of a collision. Having a correctly fitted car seat is a simple measure parents, grandparents and guardians can take to ensure children are safe while travelling by car. I would encourage people to visit the ‘Check it Fits’ when it comes to Galway and give yourself the peace of mind that your children are travelling safely.”
Moyagh Murdock, CEO of the RSA, while speaking about the service said:
“The RSA ‘Check it Fits’ service is there to provide professional, trustworthy advice to parents and guardians around child car seat safety. Parents all over the country are availing of this service to get practical advice and expert fitting of their car seats. We would advise all parents to ensure that when they buy a new car seat, that they get the seat fitted by an expert. We would also advise that parents to check the label on their car seat to make sure it’s appropriate for your child’s age, weight and height, to make sure your seat is firmly installed in the car, and to always ensure that your child’s harness is fitted snugly for every trip. Clothing can affect how the harness fits, so you should use blankets instead of bulky jackets in the winter. This makes sure that the harness is making contact with your child’s body and you should check this before every journey.”
For more information on Check it Fits in partnership with Toyota and for an up-to-date schedule of upcoming road shows in Galway, visit www.checkitfits.ie.