SGI Traffic Safety Outreach in partnership with Knight Archer Insurance offered a free car seat safety clinic at their Westwood Drive location on June 13th.

Parents and caregivers had the opportunity to have a free safety inspection and learn about the proper equipment and procedures for transporting children in a vehicle.

Knight Archer's partnership extends across the province to other communities. The Humboldt stop was one of four that SGI's Traffic Safety Outreach teams were doing on June 13th. 

Toni Rapley with the program explained, "The whole purpose of hosting the clinics is just to be able to talk to different caregivers about how to ensure their children are safely restrained when they're travelling in a vehicle. Ideally, they bring their vehicle with the children and we make sure that the car seat they have is being used properly so that it's really snug and really secure in your vehicle. We make sure that the child who is in the seat is also super secure so that in the worst case scenario, the child isn't going anywhere and the car seat isn't going anywhere."

The clinics also clear up some of the worst misconceptions about car seat usage. Rapley points out some of the most egregious errors when it comes to equipment and safety.

"When children are rear facing, one of the biggest things is getting that car seat to stay nice and snug. We want the seat to have only one-inch movement from side to side and none from back to front. Often parents or caregivers don't get the straps snug to the child's body. We want to fit only one finger stackable at the collar bone and the straps."

There are also some common errors when it comes to forward facing children in car seats. The same sorts of rules apply for snugness and seat movement, but parents often mistake when it's appropriate for children to face front in a car seat.

"Sometimes parents put their children forward facing too soon. You have to wait until they are one year old, 22 pounds, and walking before you can do that."

Finally, the appropriate timing for the use of booster seats is an occasional cause for confusion. "A big misconception is that children don't need to be in booster seats. The child needs to be 40 pounds to be in a booster and mature enough to sit there and not have the seat belt be a bother."

Rapley reminds parents that children need to be safely restrained in some type of full car seat or booster until they are at least seven years old.

All car seats in Canada are subject to Transport Canada's crash impact testing and must bear the Canadian Motor Vehicle Standards safety sticker. Car seats that are second hand may be subject to wear and cannot be recertified. Rapley recommends that people purchase only new and approved car seats for the greatest security. 

 

 

 

 

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