The Ron Wood Family Resource Center is hosting its annual National Seat Check on Saturday to promote the importance of proper restraint techniques for children riding in vehicles.
As a part of National Child Passenger Safety Week, the Seat Check Saturday will take place at the Carson Tahoe Hospital in the emergency room parking lot. There will be three certified child passenger safety technicians to inspect car seats and provide advice and education on how to properly install a car seat.
Holly Brown, Car Seat coordinator with Ron Wood, said nationally, the leading cause of children deaths is crashes and by providing correct car seat education, that can be changed.
“Three out of four car seats are misused nationally and that is a ridiculous number and we need to change it,” said Brown. “We want every child to be traveling safely.”
Brown said in the eight years she has been a child passenger safety technician, and out of thousands of car seats inspected, only about 50 were correctly fitted.
The Ron Wood Center also received about $7,500 worth of booster and car seats it will be giving away for free to parents and caregivers in need. Brown said they received about 200 seats, and though most of the car seats have already been given out, they have a lot of booster seats left. There will be one free seat per child and others can be purchased at a discount rate.
“We want to encourage parents to come out and get their seat checked,” Brown said.
One of the services Ron Wood offers is discounted rates on car and booster seats, usually running about $15-$20 less than retail value.
“The lower prices entices parents to come in and then we can educate them on when they come and get checked,” Brown said.
The Seat Check Saturday will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. For more information or questions, contact Holly Brown at the Ron Wood Family Resource Center at 775-884-2269.