Less than half of car seats checked in recent clinics organised by Cambridgeshire’s road safety team were correctly fitted.
The clinics were part of a new initiative to raise awareness among parents, grandparents and carers about the dangers of incorrectly fitted or inappropriate child car seats.
The council is using the award-winning ‘Good Egg In-Car Child Safety Campaign’ which has helped reduce casualty rates among child passengers in Scotland.
In six in-car clinics carried out since November 2012, just 47% of the seats checked were correctly fitted. Of the remainder, 34% had minor faults, 12% had major faults, and 7% were incompatible to the child or car.
While the figures are concerning, looking at the picture across the UK, Cambridgeshire is performing better than average. Of 2,631 car seats tested across the UK in 2012, just 45% were correctly fitted.
Matt Staton, road safety officer for Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “In speaking to parents at these events it is evident that a lack of awareness is a big problem, with many not realising that car seats do not necessarily fit all cars, or not understanding how tightly the seat or harness should be fitted.
“The aim of this campaign in Cambridgeshire is two-fold: to correct any fitting errors and ensure parents leave the events able to check and re-fit the seat themselves, and to arm parents with information about child car seats which they can use in purchasing new seats and pass on to friends and family.”
For more information contact Good Egg Safety on 0131 668 1880.
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