FREE child car seat and vehicle safety check events are being held throughout Warwickshire during May half term.
According to data from the AA, in the UK every year 205 children are injured and 21 are killed in car crashes where they are a passenger.
But ensuring that a child’s car seat is correctly fitted can help reduce the risks of injury, or worse, in the unfortunate event of a collision, say Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership.
The car seat safety events are taking place at Dobbie’s Garden Centre in Rugby on Monday May 22, Tesco in Emscote Road, Warwick on Tuesday May 23 and Tesco in Birmingham Road, Stratford on Wednesday May 24.
These events will help raise awareness of the importance of correctly fitted child seats to reduce avoidable child passenger casualties and support drivers to undertake essential vehicle checks.
Data from previous events, held in February 2023, identified that 68 per cent of child car seats in Warwickshire required intervention to ensure the safe fitting of the seat and child.
The car seat safety checks will be carried out by IOSH accredited experts.
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service will also attend all events to offer vehicle safety and maintenance advice, including checking tyres, oil and screen wash levels. In addition to conducting the checks, the team will support drivers to undertake these checks themselves.
Warwickshire County Council community safety spokesman Coun Andy Crump said: “Warwickshire’s Road Safety Partnership’s work complements that of the county council’s Road Safety Education Team who work closely with children in schools across Warwickshire to help improve their safety on the roads.
“We can also help protect children by providing targeted education, information and advice to parents and carers and by ensuring child car seats are correctly fitted and appropriate for the height and weight of the child.
“These events are a great opportunity to get both car seats and cars themselves checked by the experts to ensure that our roads are safer for all users.”
For more information visit https://warksroadsafety.org/child-seat-check-events/ or email [email protected]
