How Kim helps keep kids safe in cars...

We both hold certification for Child Passenger Safety (me as a
technician, her as an instructor).

Nine out of ten car seats for children are improperly installed. This
can mean serious damage or even death to a child who is not properly
strapped into their car seat and the seat not installed properly to the
car - in the event of a vehicle crash.

For the past few years, her and I have done countless seat checks for
parents who are expecting their first child or who just want to make
sure their child's car seat is installed properly. In addition to the
individual seat checks we do, we also attend regular car seat "clinics"
in the county where parents drive in and we (along with many others)
inspect their car seats.

We also educate parents on the importance of booster seats. Minnesota
law states that a child must be in a car seat until they are four years
old and forty pounds. Seat belts in vehicles are tested and made for a
160 lb. man. They are not made or tested for children under 48 inches
and 89 pounds. There have been many preventable tragedies had some
children been in an appropriate booster seat.

So, my contribution in our little part of the world is to make sure
children in our community are safe when they are riding in cars, and
that parents are educated to know what the seat belts laws are and when
to move their child to a booster seat.