 San Bernardino County Fire is working hard to have several fitting stations located in fire stations throughout San Bernardino County. In 2001 Penni Overstreet-Murphy, Fire Prevention Specialist became certified as a Child Passenger Seat Technician. According to the National Safe Kids Coalition safety belts and car seats are still killing and injuring our children.
Despite numerous campaigns to promote the use of safety belts and car seats, and despite child occupant protection laws in every state, motor vehicle crashes continue to kill and seriously injure children at an alarming rate. Each year approximately 1,800 children ages 14 and under are killed as occupants in motor vehicles, and more than 280,000 are injured.
Car seats, when correctly installed and used, are extremely effective in saving children’s lives, reducing the risk of death by as much as 71 percent for infants. However, they are complicated to install and use, making mistakes extremely common. In fact, studies have found that as many as four out of five car seats are installed or used incorrectly. Factors contributing to the difficulty of using seats correctly include a variety of age and size requirements, incompatibility between car seat and vehicle design, improper seating position and gaps in child occupant protection laws.
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