Media Contact:  John Lisle at (202) 671-3490

WASHINGTON, DC — National Child Passenger Safety Week is September 21-27 and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is urging all parents and caregivers to make sure their children’s car seats and booster seats are installed properly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that three out of four child safety seats nationwide are improperly installed in vehicles.

On September 20, “National Seat Check Saturday,” DDOT and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) will have English and Spanish-speaking certified technicians available to provide free on-site child safety seat inspections for DC residents. The inspections will be conducted from 10 am to 4 pm at the DC Stadium-Armory, 2400 East Capital Street, NE. Parents with children 8 years old and younger are encouraged to attend. The children must be present for technicians to properly inspect the safety seats. In addition, a limited number of child safety seats will be provided free of charge to needy families, while supplies last.

The goal of National Child Passenger Safety Week is to ensure all children are secured properly in an appropriate seat – every trip, every time. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates 8,325 lives of children under age 5 have been saved by the proper use of child restraints during the past 30 years. Research also shows that child restraints provide the best protection for all children up to age 8; after age 8 seat belts provide the best protection.

To maximize child passenger safety, parents and caregivers should refer to the following 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 (at least age 1 and at least 20 pounds) 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 (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds), 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 (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall).
   
   
4. When children outgrow their booster seats, (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall) they can use the adult seat belts in the back seat, if they fit properly (lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest).