Published: September 20, 2007 11:49 pm         

Free safety seat inspection, installation slated for today

A free child safety seat inspection and installation will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at the Beckley Fire Department on North Eisenhower Drive.

The check will be the culminating event of a four-day child passenger safety technician class sponsored by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program and the Southern Regional Highway Safety Program.

Dave Cook, coordinator for the child passenger safety seat program, says participants have completed classroom and hands-on training, learning things such as the proper use of safety seats, how to select the proper seat and how to properly install different seats.

Today’s event, which will be overseen by instructors, will be the final test for the police officers, firefighters and civilians who are taking the class.

Cook said there are three to four classes statewide each year during which interested participants receive certification.

Currently, there are between 200 and 300 certified technicians in West Virginia, a number that Cook says needs to increase.

“Studies have found about 95 percent of all child seats are installed wrong,” he said.

“We need as many trained technicians as possible across the state so we can make sure they’re installed right.”

Cook said it is important for everyone, even those who think their seats are installed correctly, to stop by to have them checked.

“Most people think they’ve got them in correctly, but they don’t,” he said. “If you’ve got a child in a seat, you probably need to have that seat checked.”

In addition to today’s installation, the Bill Straub Jr. State Farm Insurance Agency will sponsor an inspection/installation at the North Eisenhower Drive fire station from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday’s event, Cook said, will include giveaways.

— E-mail: mjames

@register-herald.com