VIDEO: Free child seat roadshow in Cork

4 June 2015
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie

Parents in Cork are being urged to have their child’s car seat checked as research from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) indicates that as many as 4 out of 5 child car seats are incorrectly fitted. The RSA ‘Check it Fits’ service will be visiting ten locations across Cork from June 16^th to July 1^st where child car seat installation experts will be available to ensure car seats and restraints are correctly fitted.  The service takes between 10-15 minutes, is free of charge and offers parents and guardians reassurance that their child is safe while travelling in the car.

Since ‘Check it Fits’ began in October 2013, the RSA service has checked over 8,000 child car seats and restraints across Ireland. Of these, 82% required some adjustment. Worryingly, 75% of seats required a major adjustment, of which 4% were deemed not fit for purpose and condemned, meaning they have the potential  to cause injury or even death in the event of a collision. If your child’s car seat or restraint is incorrectly fitted, the ‘Check it Fits’ experts will advise on how to fix the problem, demonstrate how to fit the restraint correctly and answer any queries participants might have to avoid potential serious or fatal injury in the event of a collision

Aisling Leonard, Senior Road Safety Promotion Officer for the RSA commented:

“Almost 2 out of 5 children killed are passengers and Garda reports into collisions indicate that 1 in 10 children were not wearing a seatbelt or using a child restraint in 2014. More recent statistics have shown an increase in child passenger fatalities on the road. The reality is that if a child’s car seat isn’t fitted correctly, it could lead to a serious or fatal injury in the event of a collision. Having a correctly fitted car seat is a simple measure parents, grandparents and guardians can take to ensure children are safe while travelling by car.”

Schedule of events in Cork