Local agencies and KCPD to hold car-seat safety clinic

Police officers and community partners team up for North Kansas City event on Friday

Properly restraining children in car seats is the best way to protect them from the leading cause of death for young children in the U.S. — motor vehicle crashes. Yet studies show that about 80 percent of car seats are installed incorrectly. Often, parents and caregivers are completely unaware they have installed a car seat improperly, or they move their school-aged child from a child restraint to a seat belt prematurely, completely skipping the booster-seat stage.

On Friday, May 7, 2010, Mid-America Head Start families can have their vehicle’s child restraint checked by a certified child passenger safety technician to make sure it is installed correctly. Over 100 car seats are expected to be distributed to Head Start families with an identified need for appropriate child restraints.

This special event will take place at Metro North Mall, 400 NW Barry Rd, Kansas City, Mo. 64155, from 1–5 p.m. 

In 2008, a large inaugural group of KCPD officers and Mid-America Head Start staff were certified as child-passenger safety technicians after a week-long training on assessing car seats for safety and proper installation. They continue to actively participate in car-seat safety events through the Safe Travel–Buckle Up KC Kids initiative, an outreach and support initiative to promote and enforce car-seat safety in Kansas City, Mo. 

Safe Travel–Buckle Up KC Kids is funded through a grant awarded to Mid-America Regional Council from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Mid-America Regional Council and local partners Children’s Mercy Hospital and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department are working to teach parents and children how to be safe when traveling in vehicles The purpose of the program is to take car-seat safety into parts of the community where families are receiving Head Start services.