Get your child’s car seat checked in Co Mayo this week

A face-to-face child car seat checking service is available in three different locations in Co Mayo this week.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA), who are undertaking the initiative, say that over half of child car seats (56%) they have checked at these face-to-face services were incorrectly fitted and needed some type of adjustment to make them a safe fit. 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.

The RSA’s Check it Fits child car seat checking service is in Smyth’s Toys, Claremorris this Tuesday, July 9, then in Totally Toys, Castlebar on Wednesday and in Toymaster Ballina this Thursday, July 11, from 10am to 5.30pm each day.

Car seats may seem simple to install, but the installation is often easy to get wrong and the RSA have found that almost a third of seats fitted incorrectly needed major adjustments.

“We know parents are not intentionally putting children in danger and it is an education issue,” says Ron Richardson, lead checker for the RSA, adding that the purpose of the RSA Check it Fits service is to help parents and ensure car seats and restraints are correctly fitted.

“While the RSA’s experience shows that half of child car seats are fitted incorrectly, worryingly, it found that 30% of these needed a major adjustment to fix them – for example, the seat being excessively loose so as to make the fitting almost ineffective,” explained Richardson, who added that 67% were minor adjustments such as the fitting being loose or a twisted seatbelt.

“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 service when it comes to Mayo and give yourself the peace of mind that your children are travelling safely,” he added.

The service takes between 10 and 15 minutes and is free of charge. It offers parents and guardians reassurance that their child is safe while travelling in the car. It is a walk-in service, so no appointment is needed.

It is important to use your child car seat correctly every single time during a car journey so parents should regularly check the fitting of your child car seat or get it rechecked at a Check it Fits service. For example, if you got your child car seat fitted in winter now coming into the summer months you may need to tighten the harness as your children are wearing lighter clothes. If your child’s car seat or restraint is incorrectly fitted, the 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.