80% Of Child Car Seats Are Not Safe!

PARENTS are being urged to have their children?s car seats checked for safety as the county council’s “Sitting Tight” campaign reveals that a staggering 80% are incorrectly fitted.

Fire crews from Rewley Road Fire Station will be in the car park at Toys R Us on the Botley Road in Oxford between 9.30am and 12.30 on Saturday 29 October. Parents are invited to bring their cars along so that firefighters can check their children?s car seats free-of-charge to ensure that they have been secured correctly.
There are many different makes of cars and many different types of car seats which can make the fitting quite complicated ? it only takes a few minutes to have the seat checked and parents can then rest assured that their children are safe when they travel on Oxfordshire?s busy roads.

The Fire & Rescue Service is working with the County Council?s Road Safety team to spread the road safety message far and wide throughout the county in a bid to reduce the total number of deaths and injuries to children on our roads each year.

David Heycock, Community Fire Safety Manager at the County Council?s Fire & Rescue Service said: ?We are hoping that fathers and grandfathers, as well as mothers and grandmothers, will come along and let us check their children?s car seats.

?We have noticed in previous campaigns that some fathers are a little reluctant to receive our advice -possibly because they assume that they have fitted the seat securely and safely.

?Unfortunately this is not always the case and it?s not because of their lack of ability.
There are hundreds of different car seats on the market today and they all have different fitting methods.?

County Councillor Ray Jelf, Cabinet Member for Community Safety said: ?Problems can sometimes arise when the seats are swapped from one car to another as different cars may need a different method of securing the seat.

?Our teams are out there to offer advice and training. I hope that people will take advantage of this and have their children?s car seats checked.?

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