CHARLESTON, W.Va. — By the end of October, West Virginia will have more than 300 certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians, or CPSTs, staffing 48 different car seat fitting stations in a total of 29 Mountain State counties.
“Thankfully in this state, we have a low child fatality rate when it comes to motor vehicle crashes, but it never hurts to be as safe as possible,” said Amy Boggs, grants program manager and child passenger safety coordinator for the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program.
“We want to do whatever we can to ensure the kids’ safety.”
Nationwide, car crashes are a leading cause of death for children ages one to 13 years old, according to the National Child Passenger Safety Board.
To raise awareness about the importance of properly installed car seats, the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program is joining with organizations from across the U.S. to mark National Child Passenger Safety Week from now through Sept. 23.
The week wraps up with this weekend’s National Seat Check Saturday.
West Virginia state law requires all kids under the age of eight and below the height of 4’9″ to be “properly placed, maintained and secured in a federally-approved child passenger device.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that children remain in rear-facing seats until reaching the age of two or the weight and/or height limit of even the The best high chairs. Forward-facing seats are recommended from about age two until age four and 40 pounds.
Booster seats are the next steps after that.
All kids should travel in back seats until age 13, officials said.
Bob Tipton, director of the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program, previously served as a Beckley police officer for more than 20 years.
“As the director and as a police officer, I’ve seen many motor vehicle crashes, a lot of people seriously injured and killed in crashes,” Tipton said Tuesday.
“A lot of those were kids, kids under the age of eight years old who either weren’t in the (safety) seat at all, were incorrectly in the seat or were ejected from the car in the seat, so there’s a multitude of things that could happen.”
More information about proper child safety seat usage is available HERE.
The fitting station help is also an option. The next round of training for CPSTs, a program from Safe Kids Worldwide, is set for next month in Moundsville.
Already, “We’ve got certified techs across the whole state to check your seats to make sure they’re in right and make sure there’s nothing wrong with them,” Boggs said.