In their ongoing efforts to educate parents and promote the proper use of child safety seats, the Metropolitan Police Department and the District Department of Transportation will hold free child safety seat inspections in the District of Columbia every Saturday until the Christmas holiday.
Parents can have their child safety seats inspected and properly fitted - and receive information on how to obtain low-cost safety seats, if needed - between 10 am and 3 pm on the following dates, at the following locations:
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November 6: 2100 Mississippi Avenue, SE, and 2400 Shannon Place, SE
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November 13: 4900 Brooks Street, NE
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November 20: 2500 West Virginia Avenue, NE
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November 27: 4100 Georgia Avenue, NW
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December 4: 2500 block of 14th Street, NW
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December 11: 3800 Chesapeake Street, NW
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December 18: 1900 East Capitol Street, NE
DC traffic safety officials point out that too many parents still don't know about, and use, the full range of child safety seats, especially booster seats. Safety experts strongly recommend that children should not be moved into regular seat belts until they are at least four-feet, nine-inches tall, weigh about 80 pounds and are approximately 8 years old. DC law now requires that children up to age 8 be secured in age-appropriate safety seats, including booster seats for older children in the age range.
The series of child safety seat inspections come on the heels of recent tragic incidents in which young children who not properly secured in child safety seats were killed or seriously injured in traffic crashes. Detailed information about child safety seat laws and resources in DC can be found on the traffic safety page of the MPDC website.