Free car seat inspections will be offered as part of Child Passenger Safety Week.

According to the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, in 2016, 18 children less than eight-years-old were killed and 47 suffered injuries as passengers in vehicle crashes in Missouri. Twenty-nine percent of the children killed were not restrained in a car seat or safety belt.

Missouri law requires all children under eight to be in an appropriate child safety seat or booster seat unless they weigh at least 80 pounds or are 4’9” tall. 

Traffic Safety Coordinator for the St. Joseph Safety Council Sue Lober said Child Passenger Safety Week is held every year because it’s important to make sure parents and caregivers know the correct way to use car seats. 

“We’re helping them to understand the process of how the child grows and how the need for the seat needs to change to match height and weight,” Lober said. 

As part of Child Passenger Safety Week, free car seat inspections will be held this week. 

“You want to know for sure that how you have your child riding is the safest place in the car and that their seat is properly installed so that you don’t have any bad effects if you are in a crash,” Lober said. 

The first car seat inspection will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday at the St. Joseph Safety Council located at 3131 Frederick Avenue. Another will be held 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday at Lowe’s. For more information on car seat safety, click here.