Sept. 10, 2009

Don’t give away that booster seat just yet. If your child is under seven right now, you will need it for another year till your child turns eight under a new law that will take effect this November.

A New York State bill signed on Aug. 26 requires all children under the age of eight to be in an appropriate child restraint system starting this November. The law, which takes effect 90 days after it was signed, previously covered children under the age of seven.

Parents can have their children’s car seat, booster seat and seat belt checked by trained technicians this Saturday, Sept. 12 for free.

Noting that Sept. 12-18 is national Child Passenger Safety Week, County Executive Andy Spano is urging parents and caregivers to focus on protecting children in motor vehicles.

“The best step a parent or caregiver can take to keep children safe on the roads is to follow the law and put them in the proper car seat at the right age,” said Spano.

Saturday’s child safety seat check is sponsored by Westchester Safe Kids and Greenburgh Police Department and will be held at People’s United Bank parking lot, 977 Central Park Avenue, Scarsdale. Trained technicians will inspect car seats from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and properly install them. No appointment is necessary. Contact Greenburgh Police at (914) 682-5334 for further information. All types of child car seats will be inspected, including infant, toddler and booster seats.

The Traffic Safety Office of the Department of Public Works will be reaching out to parents and child care providers to educate them about child passenger safety issues. Programs on the safe transportation of children are offered by the Traffic Safety Board to the community free of charge throughout the year.

These programs publicize the National Highway Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) essential message for safety – The 4 Steps for Kids which stresses that as children grow, the way they are secured in a car, truck or SUV should change. For maximum child passenger safety, parents and caregivers simply need to remember and follow The 4 Steps for Kids guidelines for determining which restraint system is best suited to protect children based on age and size:

1. For the best possible protection keep infants in the back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible up to the height or weight limit of the particular seat. At a minimum, keep infants rear-facing until at least age 1 and at least 20 pounds.
2. When children outgrow their rear-facing seats, they should ride in forward-facing child safety seats, in the back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds).
3. Once children outgrow their forward-facing seats, they should ride in booster seats, in the back seat, until the vehicle seat belts fit properly. Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest (until age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall).
4. When children outgrow their booster seats, they can use the adult seat belts in the back seat, if they fit properly. Recent information provided by NHTSA stresses that all children under the age of 13 should ride in the back seat (was previously age 12).

Low-income families unable to purchase booster seats may call Westchester Safe Kids at (914) 592-7555 for assistance.

For more child safety seat check events in Westchester, visit www.safeny.com. For further information on child passenger safety, contact the Westchester County Department of Public Works’ Traffic Safety office at (914) 995-2555.