Buckle Up! Car Seat Check This Wednesday

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud Area Child Passenger Safety Collaborative is hosting a Car Seat Checkup event at the Sartell Fire Department Wednesday from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.

The group is a combination of law enforcement agencies from Benton, Stearns, and Sherburne Counties. Waite Park Police Department Community Outreach Specialist Alicia Mages says failing to secure the car seat is the most common problem they see.

“People would get it buckled in, but maybe not lock the seatbelt, or just not lock it down tight enough.”

Mages says the group used to host monthly checks, except in December, every year. It has become more sporadic since the start of the COVID pandemic but access to the Sartell Fire Hall will make regular events possible again.

Mages says parents who show up to the checkups are generally pretty knowledgeable about the legal requirements surrounding car seats. For everyone else, booster seats are often abandoned too early or ignored completely.

“What I see out in the community is kids not being in booster seats as long as they need to be. The law says until they’re eight years old, or 4’9″ or taller. So, 4’9″ is the minimum but most kids don’t reach that 4’9″ until they’re between the ages of 10 and 12.”

If kids are too short, regular seat belts cut across the neck and are usually moved behind a child’s head. The lap belt settles on the stomach and midsection, rather than the waist. Both situations can be dangerous.

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