SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) is joining law enforcement agencies, public health departments, and other community organizations to raise awareness about the importance of keeping children in the correct car seat for their age and size.

During Child Passenger Safety Week, SLTPD encourages all parents and caregivers to ensure their children are riding safely by using the correct car seats, booster seats and properly fitted seat belts. This annual campaign takes place from September 21-27.

“Every child deserves to travel safely,” said South Lake Tahoe Police Sergeant John Spaeth. “During Child Passenger Safety Week, we urge all parents and caregivers to know for sure that their children are in the right seats and that those seats are installed correctly. Keeping a child in the right seat for their age and size can make all the difference in a crash.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 46 percent of car seats are misused. Properly installed car seats have been shown to reduce fatal injury crashes by 71 percent for infants under a year old and by 54 percent for toddlers ages 1 through 4.

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. Once a child reaches these milestones, all children under the age of 8 years old are still required to be secured in a car seat or booster seat, in the back seat. Children 8 and older, or who are at least 4 feet 9 inches tall, may be secured by a booster seat, but at a minimum must be secured by a safety belt.

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to keep children in the proper rear or forward-facing seat as long as possible and use the “Five-Step Test” (see below) to determine if their child is big enough to safely use a seat belt without a booster seat.

To schedule a free child safety seat inspection, contact your local California Highway Patrol (CHP) Area Office. For the CHP-South Lake Tahoe, call 530-539-9500.

Five-Step Test

Before a child can sit in a vehicle with just a seat belt, he or she needs to meet the following five seat belt fit criteria called the 5-Step Seat Belt Fit Test:

1 – Shoulder belt crosses between the neck and shoulder and across the mid chest.

If the shoulder belt is too close to the neck, kids can be tempted to put it behind their back for comfort.  A shoulder belt that sits off the shoulder can slip off during a crash, reducing its ability to protect.

2 – Back is against the vehicle seat.

If the child is sitting with their bottom forward to allow their legs to go over the edge of the seat in order to feel comfortable, a gap is created between their low back and the seat. This will cause the seat belt to ride up out of position onto their belly. It can also introduce slack in the seat belt which will allow the child to move forward more during a crash. Both of these can cause increased injury in a crash.

3 – Lap belt stays on the upper thighs across the hip bones.

If the lap portion of the belt is across the soft tissue of the abdomen (like will happen if their back isn’t against the vehicle seat), it can damage internal organs in a crash.

4 – The knees bend at the end of the seat.

Kids will scoot their bottom forward to let their knees bend comfortably, increasing their risk of injury because the seat belt rides up off of their hips and onto the soft part of their belly. They need to be tall enough to have their knees comfortably bend at the edge of the seat.

5 – Feet are flat on the floor.

The child’s legs need to be long enough to allow the feet to rest on the floor while their knees at the end of the seat.

Visit www.gosafelyca.org for more traffic safety information.

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