A Week to Focus on Child Passenger Safety

During Child Passenger Safety Week, which began Sunday and wraps up on Sept. 23, the Pasadena Police Department is joining law enforcement agencies, public health departments, and other community organizations to raise awareness about the importance of keeping children safe in cars.

The Police Department also reminds parents and caregivers to secure children in the correct child safety seat for their age and size.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), forty-six percent or nearly half of car seats are misused, making children vulnerable to injury in a crash when they are in the wrong type of car seat for their age and size or if the car seat is installed improperly.

“Children are vulnerable to injury in a crash when they are in the wrong type of car seat for their age and size or if the car seat is installed improperly,” Pasadena Police Department Lieutenant Anthony Russo said. “Even if you think you have the right car seat and installed it correctly, it doesn’t hurt to get it checked.”

California law requires all children under 2 years old to ride in a rear-facing car seat, unless the child is 40 or more pounds or is 40 or more inches tall. Parents are encouraged to keep their child in rear- and forward-facing seats as long as possible.

Children 8 and older or who are at least 4 feet, 9 inches in height, may be secured by a booster seat, but at a minimum must be wearing a properly fitted safety belt.

To search for car seat programs in your county, visit the California Office of Traffic Safety website, https://www.ots.ca.gov/, or https://www.nhtsa.gov.

For information about the proper use of child seatbelts, visit www.safekids.org/safetytips/field_risks/seatbelt.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also maintains a page on its website that’s dedicated to information about injuries that may be the result of the improper use and specifications of child seatbelts. You can find that here: www.cdc.gov/injury/features/child-passenger-safety/index.html.

You may also contact your local CHP Area Office to schedule a free child safety seat inspection.

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.