Friday, September 24, 2010

Detroit, MI area Car Seat Safety Checks tomorrow 9/25....

SEAT CHECK SATURDAY EVENT AT GENERAL MOTORS TECHNICAL CENTER CAPS CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY WEEK

Safe Kids USA Invites Parents to Ensure Their Child Seat is Installed Properly.

 GM is holding a seat check event tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Technical Centers Vehicle Engineering Center in Warren.

At "Seat Check Saturday," you can get your children's car seats checked in your vehicle by certified child safety experts from Safe Kids Macomb County. It's part of a partnership between GM and Safe Kids USA and caps off National Child Passenger Safety Week (Sept. 19-25).


“Since the program began in 1997, our partnership with General Motors and the General Motors Foundation has resulted in 1.3 million car seats checked at about 65,000 car seat checkup events around the country.”

Safe Kids Buckle Up, the child passenger safety program of Safe Kids USA in partnership with the General Motors Foundation, hosts child safety seat checkups and other vehicle safety events throughout the year. Through the generosity of the General Motors Foundation, Safe Kids has reached more than 21 million people and donated more than 457,000 car seats to families in need.
 

The Warren, Mich. event will be held at the GM Technical Centers Vehicle Engineering Center, 30001 Van Dyke road (enter at Gate 11) from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Saturday, September 2th!! (that's tomorrow!!!)Certified child passenger safety technicians from Safe Kids Macomb County, will inspect and help assure child safety seats are properly installed for families from local Head Start Centers, Selfridge Air National Guard, the Michigan WIC (Women, Infant and Children) program and the general public.

Parents and caregivers can find additional Safe Kids Buckle Up seat check events by visiting the Safe Kids web-site at http://www.safekids.org/.

Research from NHTSA shows that roughly 3 out of 4 child safety seats are not used properly and as children age they are less likely to be in the appropriate child safety seat for their age and weight.
(That's not a very good ratio...take the time to get your car seat checked out!!)


Some basic guidelines for parents:
• For the best possible protection, keep infants in a back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible—up to the height or weight limit of the particular seat. Never turn a child forward-facing before age 1 and at least 20 pounds, although keeping kids rear-facing until at least age 2 is safer and preferred if the seat allows.

• When children outgrow their rear-facing seats, they should ride in forward-facing child safety seats, in a back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular harnessed seat. Many newer seats exceed the old 40 pound weight limit.

• Once children outgrow their forward-facing seats, they should ride in booster seats, in the back seat, until the vehicle seat belts fit properly.

• Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt rests on the shoulder or collar bone (usually when the child is between 8 and 12 years old, approximately 4’9” tall and 80 to 100 pounds).

Here's a little extra information about the wonderfully, generous companies who are sponsoring this event...

About Safe Kids USA
Safe Kids USA is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations with the mission of preventing unintentional childhood injury, the leading cause of death and disability to children ages 1 to 14. More than 600 coalitions in the United States and nineteen member countries worldwide bring together health and safety experts, educators, corporations, foundations, governments and volunteers to educate and protect families.

About General Motors Foundation:
Since its inception in 1976, the GM Foundation has donated hundreds of millions to deserving American charities and to disaster relief efforts worldwide. The GM Foundation focuses on Education, Health and Human Services, Environment and Energy and Community Development initiatives, mainly in the communities where GM operates. For more information, visit www.gm.com/corporate/responsibility/community.
 
So...if you live in the area, and have car seats in your car...PLEASE take the time to have them checked!

AND...if you don't live in the area, but have car seats in your
car...Please check to see where you can have them checked
by clicking here.

AND...

last but not least....

How can you help???




Have a great weekend!!

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