February 05, 2007

Safe Kids Coalition Participates In Statewide Safety Seat Checks

MOLINE, Ill. – Quad Cities Safe Kids Coalition will team up with the Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois State Police to promote and teach the proper use of child safety seats during the nationwide Child Passenger Safety Week, which runs Feb. 11-17.

A news conference to promote Child Passenger Safety Week will be held Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 10 a.m. at Mills Chevrolet, Moline.  Mills Chevrolet will also host a safety seat checkpoint on Sunday, Feb. 11 as part of National Seat Check Sunday.

Keene Hart, director of Quad Cities Safe Kids Coalition, said the purpose of the Child Passenger Safety Week is to help reduce the high number of child safety seats that are installed improperly.

“In the Quad Cities, we are still finding a high percentage of child safety seats that have been improperly installed,’’ said Hart, who will be the lead technician at the local National Seat Check event on Sunday. “We know that when child safety seats are installed correctly they save lives, but the seats must be installed correctly to provide the expected level of safety.

“What we want to do Sunday is find as many seats as possible that have been installed incorrectly and show vehicle drivers the proper way to install the seats.’’

Hart is an EMT-Paramedic with the ambulance service at Genesis Medical Center, Illini Campus.  Genesis Medical Center, Illini Campus is the lead agency providing support for Quad Cities Safe Kids Coalition.

At the media event today, reporters will be tested on what is wrong with the passenger seats installed in vehicles in the Mills Chevrolet show room.

Mills Chevrolet will be one of 33 safety seat inspection checkpoints in Illinois on Sunday from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.  The checkpoints will be hosted by the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Traffic Safety and staffed by more than 250 certified child passenger safety technicians.

Illinos Governor Rod Blagojevich has made traffic safety a top priority for his administration and has actively supported legislation to reduce fatalities on Illinois highways.

Recently, Illinois announced that 2006 was the safest year on Illinois roadways in more than 80 years as traffic fatality numbers dropped below 1,300 for the first time since 1924.

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