Incorrectly Fitted Child Car Seats Major Cause for Concern in Laois

Incorrectly Fitted Child Car Seats Major Cause for Concern in Laois

RSA’s Check it Fits Service and the service is visiting SuperValu Portarlington on Monday 24 April 2017 and Toyota Portlaoise on Tuesday 25 April 2017. Did you know it’s the law that all children under 150cms or 36kgs must use a child car seat appropriate to their weight and height. In Ireland as many as 4 out of 5 child car seats are incorrectly fitted which can lead to serious injury or even death in a collision.

Schedule of events in Laois:

Our experts ensure and check that child car seats and restraints are correctly fitted. This is a free service for parents to avail of practical advice and expert fitting of their child car seats. Worryingly statistics show 4 out of 5 car seats are incorrectly fitted nationwide, meaning they could have caused injury or even death in the event of a collision.

Incorrectly Fitted Child Car Seats Major Cause for Concern in Laois

•  79% required major adjustment
• 3% of seats checked not fit for purpose

Research from the Road Safety Authority’s ‘Check it Fits’ Service, which checks child car seats and restraints nationwide for free, has revealed that 4 out of 5 child car seats are incorrectly fitted nationwide.  On the service’s most recent visit to Laois in August and September 2016, 91 seats were checked.

Make sure your child car seats are fitted correctly

Since October 2013, the RSA’s ‘Check it Fits’ Service has checked over 21,000 child car seats and restraints in Ireland. Worryingly, 79% of seats required a major adjustment, of which 3% were deemed not fit for purpose and condemned, meaning they could have caused injury or even death in the event of a collision.

To help address this problem, the RSA ‘Check it Fits’ service will be visiting venues in County Laois, where child car seat installation experts will be available to ensure car seats and restraints are correctly fitted. The service takes between 10-15 minutes, is free of charge and offers parents and guardians reassurance that their child is safe while travelling in the car.If your child’s car seat or restraint is incorrectly fitted, the ‘Check it Fits’ experts will advise on how to fix the problem, demonstrate how to fit the restraint correctly and answer any queries participants might have to avoid potential serious or fatal injury in the event of a collision

Aisling Leonard, Senior Road Safety Promotion Officer for the RSA commented:

“Almost 2 out of 5 children killed are passengers and Garda reports into collisions indicate that 1 in 10 children were not wearing a seatbelt or using a child restraint in 2014. More recent statistics have shown an increase in child passenger fatalities on the road. The reality is that if a child’s car seat isn’t fitted correctly, it could lead to a serious or fatal injury in the event of a collision. Having a correctly fitted car seat is a simple measure parents, grandparents and guardians can take to ensure children are safe while travelling by car. I would encourage people to visit the ‘Check it Fits’ when it comes to Laois and give yourself the peace of mind that your children are travelling safely.”

Moyagh Murdock, CEO of the RSA, while speaking about the service said:

“The RSA ‘Check it Fits’ service is there to provide professional, trustworthy advice to parents and guardians around child car seat safety. Parents all over the country are availing of this service to get practical advice and expert fitting of their car seats. We would advise all parents to ensure that when they buy a new car seat, that they get the seat fitted by an expert. We would also advise that parents to check the label on their car seat to make sure it’s appropriate for your child’s age, weight and height, to make sure your seat is firmly installed in the car, and to always ensure that your child’s harness is fitted snugly for every trip. Coming into the summer months you may need to tighten the harness as your children are wearing lighter clothes.”

For more information on Check it Fits and for an up-to-date schedule of upcoming road shows, click here.