On Wednesday, the Newton County Sheriff’s Office Traffic and Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (H.E.A.T.) Units joined the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety for a child car seat safety check at the Salem Road Walmart.

The event provided parents and caregivers with free car seat inspections and hands-on guidance from certified technicians to ensure their seats were properly installed. 

These events play an important role in keeping Georgia’s youngest passengers safe on the road by helping families meet state safety standards and prevent injuries in the event of a crash. 

Car crashes are a leading cause of death for children 0-14 years old. Studies have shown that parents and caregivers can be overconfident in their ability to select and install the right seats for their children; in fact, approximately half of all car seats are not correctly installed. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) urges parents and caregivers to get their child’s safety seat checked by a certified child passenger safety technician (CPST) to make sure their children are in the right seats (rear-facing car seats, forward-facing car seats, or booster seats) and that the seats are installed correctly.