Children’s car seats checked on Saturday through statewide program

Posted on September 27, 2018
A statewide program will check your child’s car seat this Saturday. (Dave Dahl)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Four out of five children’s car seats are not installed properly. Events like Seat Check Saturday, an effort of the Illinois Department of Transportation, secretary of state’s office, and Illinois State Police, aim to make more children safe.

“Car crashes are the leading cause of death for our children ages one to thirteen,” State Police director Leo Schmitz said at a news conference in the parking lot of IDOT’s headquarters in Springfield, alongside a car seat check station.

Jessi Hopkins, IDOT’s statewide occupant protection coordinator, says the theme of this year’s Seat Check Saturday in Illinois is Our Law Just Grew: Rear Face until 2, calling attention to a law effective Jan. 1 that children must be in a rear-facing safety seat until age two.

“Rear facing is going to provide the best protection in the event of a crash. The hard plastic shell is going to absorb the brutal crash forces,” Hopkins said.

Locations for Seat Check Saturday can be found at www.buckleupillinois.org.

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