Announcements

Osceola County, Florida - Each year, Child Passenger Safety Week (CPS) is celebrated across the country to remind parents and caregivers of the need to keep children of all ages properly restrained in seats that meet their weight and height requirements. This year Child Passenger Safety Technicians will be at Starling Chevrolet, located at the corner of Donegan and US 441, from 3 p.m. - 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 20th to ensure that families are using the right restraints - whether car seat, booster seat, or seat belt.

"All it takes for parents and caregivers to determine which restraint system is best suited to protect their children in a vehicle are to follow a few basic guidelines," said Barbara Weyel, Safe Kids Osceola coordinator.

Car crashes remain the leading cause of death for children ages 3-14, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Safe Kids USA's multifaceted child passenger safety program - Safe Kids Buckle Up (SKBU) - has been working diligently for the last 14 years to reduce those numbers. Through efforts including inspecting 1.4 million car seats, holding 65,000 car seat checkup events, and donating close to 500,000 car seats to families in need, Safe Kids Buckle Up has reached more than 21 million people through events and community outreach efforts.

This year is particularly significant because Safe Kids USA spent the course of a year collecting research data from 79,000 child safety seat inspections. A key finding in the Safe Kids USA research showed that fewer than 1/3 of the forward facing child seats arriving at seat check events used a top tether. A top tether is a strap at the top of the car seat that hooks to a tether anchor in the vehicle, and thereby provides added protection to children by helping reduce the forward movement of a child’s head in a crash.

"As a nation, we must improve child safety in vehicles, and one way to do so is by adopting use of top tethers. These are on virtually all forward-facing car seats and can be attached to anchors in every car made after 1999," said Torine Creppy, Executive Director of Safe Kids Buckle Up. "Safe Kids is moving quickly to apply the lessons learned from the study."

On Tuesday, September 20th, be sure to come out to Starling Chevrolet for a safety seat checkup (please enter from the entrance on Donegan Ave.). This is a great time for families to make sure their children’s safety seats are installed correctly, and to learn the proper time to graduate them from one seat to another based on their age, weight and height.

"When in doubt about proper car seat use, parents should take advantage of the many resources that are available through Safe Kids USA and others," said Vivian Pickard, President of the General Motors Foundation, the sponsor of Safe Kids Buckle Up (SKBU).

About Safe Kids Osceola

Safe Kids Osceola works to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the leading cause of death and disability to children ages one to 14. Its members include Osceola County Fire Rescue, St. Cloud Fire Rescue, Kissimmee Fire Department, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, St. Cloud Police Dept., Kissimmee Police Dept., Osceola County Health Dept., Healthy Start, 9-1-1 Communications, and more. Safe Kids Osceola is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing unintentional injury. Safe Kids Osceola was founded in 2000, and its lead organization is Osceola County Fire Rescue.