Free child car seat and vehicle safety check events are being held throughout Warwickshire, at the end of May by Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership.
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. Ensuring that a child’s care seat is correctly fitted can help reduce the risks of injury, or worse, in the unfortunate event of a collision.
The countywide weeklong series of events for Warwickshire residents will be focussing on child car seat safety and vehicle maintenance.
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% of child car seats in Warwickshire required intervention to ensure the safe fitting of the seat and child. The most common fitting issues included:
- Adjusting or re-routing the seatbelt and harnesses;
- Adjusting the head restraints;
- Re-positioning the front seat; and
- Ensuring foot props were correctly placed.
Of the 121 seats checked in February, 12 seats were unsuitable for the height and weight of the child using them.
Child Seat Safety, experts in the field of car seat safety and IOSH accredited in car seat training will lead and deliver the events. With over 40 years of child seat knowledge, Child Seat Safety will be available to check and adjust seats and answer questions relating to car seat safety that residents may have.
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service will 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.
Cllr Andy Crump, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Fire and Rescue and Community Safety, 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."
These events are open to all Warwickshire residents, and beyond, and are completely free to attend with no need to book. The venues are:
- Monday 22nd May: Dobbie’s Garden Centre, Straight Mile, Rugby.
- Tuesday 23rd May: Tesco Store, Emscote Rd, Warwick.
- Wednesday 24th May: Tesco Store, Birmingham Road, Stratford upon Avon.
- Thursday 25th May: Asda Store, Newtown Road, Nuneaton.
- Friday 26th May: Dobbie’s Garden Centre, Cross Lane Farm, Nuneaton Road, Mancetter, Atherstone.
To find out more about these events please visit https://warksroadsafety.org/child-seat-check-events/ or email roadsafetyeducation@warwickshire.gov.uk.
For the latest Warwickshire road safety news and events please follow Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership and Warwickshire County Council on social media. Facebook @WarwickshireRoadSafety @WCCSafeActiveTravel and Twitter @WarksRoadSafety @WCCSafe_Active