CHILD CAR-SEAT SAFETY CHECKS SET FOR SATURDAY

Most children's car seats are not installed properly, so from 9 to noon Saturday the Safe Kids Coalition and Safe Communities will give parents a hand.

Members of these groups, trained in child passenger safety, will examine child-restraint systems Saturday at Ford Groves at 1501 N. Kingshighway.

The free inspections, which take about 20 minutes, will be conducted inside the car dealership's garages, so bad weather won't be a factor, said Heidi Crowden, coordinator for Safe Kids in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

The event locally is the culmination of National Child Passenger Safety Week.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports an 80 percent misuse of child safety seats nationally.

Crowden, who has worked for Safe Kids for 10 years, has not checked a seat yet that was installed correctly.

Local experts in child passenger safety say some parents make mistakes in attempting to adapt a safety seat to a car. Plywood boards have been used for boosters, duct tape has been applied for strength and combinations of crisscrossed seat belts have been tried.

Unfortunately, studies by Safe Kids show that 96 percent of all parents think they've correctly installed car seats, Crowden said.

"There's a danger of ejection if a belt is installed wrong," she said.

Although Missouri law allows children 4 and older to ride without a car seat, Crowden said it's not safe. Safe Kids is working with Missouri legislators to change the law, at least by 2006.

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests seat belts fit properly when they can be worn with the lap portion of the belt low and tight across the hips, and the shoulder portion across the shoulders without cutting across the face and neck.