By KAITLIN BROTHERS
Reporter

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — The Warrensburg Police Department joined with Missouri law enforcement Sept. 18-24 for the Child Passenger Safety Week campaign.

The national campaign takes place in September to coincide with Child Passenger Safety Month and is about educating parents on child safety and enforcement of seatbelt laws and reducing the risk of children deaths in cars accidents, according to a press release.

Warrensburg Police Sergeant Jeff Reynolds said vehicle crashes have been the leading cause of death in children since 2010. He said improper car seat and booster seat usage is common in the U.S. and causes millions of unnecessary deaths in children ages 1 to 8.

“(We’re) hoping through the enforcement and education incentives that we will eventually reduce those numbers way down to where it’s no longer the leading cause of death in children,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said booster seats reduce the risk of non-fatal injuries by 45 percent in children ages 4 to 8 years old.

The campaign included WPD officers working overtime to look for stopped cars and check the child seats to see if the kids are restrained properly. Reynolds said if an officer sees a vehicle with the child not restrained, they have probable cause to stop that car.

WPD has been working with Johnson County Community Health for seatbelt and car seat check points. People can call into the Community Health to schedule an appointment to help make sure their car seat is properly installed.

Trisha Fleming, with the Johnson County Community Health Center, is a car seat technician. Fleming said the health center does car seat checks year-round, not just during the Child Passenger Safety Week. She said parents can call to make an appointment at any time.

“We don’t have them at a certain time, occasionally we’ll have an event like we did with officer Reynolds, and we don’t have any of those coming up, but if somebody needs one they can always call the health department,” Fleming said.

Fleming said the health center’s job is to make sure the car seats are not expired. She said car seats expire after 6 years.

“Compare it to a piece of lawn furniture,” Fleming said. “They have the pieces of furniture that sit out and after a couple winters, and they’re falling apart.”

Fleming said car seats get hot, and expand in the summer, so it weakens the plastic over time. The heat can make cracks in the plastic, causing the seats to not work properly, especially in a crash.

“That’s why we ask people not to buy them from garage sales and thrift stores,” Fleming said.

Fleming said the main reason car crashes are the leading cause of death in children is because the car seats and booster seats aren’t being used correctly, due to lack of education and some carelessness when people are in a hurry.

Fleming said the most common mistake that parents make is when kids don’t have the chest clips between their armpits, they have it down by their waist. She said the clip needs to sit between the top armpits.

“Some kids can fly out of their car seats because of that,” she said.

Fleming said lot of parents will take their kids out of car seats once they get to be school age, but the child should be at least 8 years old, 80 pounds and more than 4 feet 9 inches tall before being out of a car seat.

“And I know that because my 11-year-old is barely 80 pounds, so she was in a booster seat until she was probably 9 or 10,” Fleming said. “And parents should leave their kid rear facing as long as their seat will allow them too.”

Fleming said 80 percent of car seats are not installed correctly.

Reynolds said there can also be carelessness when it comes to child safety.

“I think a lot of it is, they’re not taking on themselves to be educated,” Reynolds said. “But if there’s carelessness, a lot of times it’s because whatever is easy and convenient for the parent. So they’ll throw their child into a seatbelt when they should be in a booster seat.”