FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 23, 2001

CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8755

COLUMBIA – The South Carolina Department of Public Safety found an almost 100 percent misuse of child safety seats checked during Child Passenger Safety Week, Feb. 12-18. DPS teamed up with other state and local agencies and private industry to conduct the free seat checks to help parents learn the proper way to restrain children.

DPS conducts safety seat inspections around the state throughout the year but held special checks during the Child Passenger Safety Week.

"Typically technicians find that four out of five child seats are installed incorrectly," said DPS Director B. Boykin Rose. "Last week, during the clinics the misuse observed was almost 100 percent. This doesn’t always mean parents were negligent; some think they have their children restrained properly and they are making mistakes that can be deadly."

There were 246 seats checked at the eight events around the state. Technicians either taught parents how to reinstall the seats correctly or replaced them with the proper seat for the child's age and weight. Misuse can include a number of things from incorrect installation, to things, including a seat that does not correctly fit the child, a seat previously involved in a crash or use of a seat that has been recalled by the manufacturer. Some child seats were replaced free during Child Passenger Safety Week through a grant from the South Carolina Sheriff's Association.

Child safety seat technicians reported seeing everything from four children improperly restrained in one vehicle to a mother who drove to the child safety seat check holding her unrestrained 1-year-old. The most common problems technicians observe include not installing the seat tightly enough and using the wrong size seat. Both of these mistakes could be fatal in a crash.

DPS, which increased enforcement during Child Passenger Safety Week, issued nearly 200 child restraint violations, 2,096 seat belt violations and almost 400 other violations, including 180 driving under the influence charges (for a complete breakdown of violations, see attached).

If you need assistance installing a child safety seat or have a question about child passenger safety, please contact the South Carolina Department of Public Safety's, Office of Highway Safety, toll free at 1-877-349-7187 or log on to the DPS web site at www.scdps.org.

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