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Supervisor Ranalli recommending Board approve and authorize Chair to sign a Proclamation recognizing May 6-12, 2018, as Safety Seat Checkup Week.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Automobile collisions are the number one preventable cause of death and permanent injury for children and young adults, as well as a major cause of permanent brain damage, epilepsy, and spinal cord injuries. A sudden stop at 30 miles per hour could cause the same crushing force on a child's brain and body as a fall from a three-story building. Each year, more than 90 child passengers under the age of fifteen are killed and more than 10,000 are injured in automobile collisions in California. A child’s life and safety while driving down the highway depends on a car seat that is appropriate for the child's age and weight and is properly installed.
The Placerville Area California Highway Patrol (CHP) Office is proud to provide Child Safety Seat inspections and installations. Local residents can contact the Placerville Area CHP Office to schedule an appointment to have their child's safety seat inspected and learn how to properly install their child's safety seat from one of the CHP’s specially trained Child Safety Seat Technicians. This service is always free. At times, upon inspection by the technician, the seats caretakers arrive with are not appropriate for the child. The CHP offers free replacement car seats and booster seats through funding from the Office of Traffic Safety.
Key Legal Points:
California law states that ALL CHILDREN under 8 years of age must be properly restrained in an appropriate child safety seat in the back seat of the vehicle.
Children under 2 years of age must ride in a rear-facing car seat, in the back seat of the vehicle unless they are 40 or more pounds or 40 inches or more in height.
A child who is at least 8 years of age or older or 4’9” in height or taller should continue to ride in the back seat in either a properly fitted child safety seat or lap/ shoulder safety belt as appropriate.
An unrestrained child in a car is at significant risk of injury or death in the event of a traffic collision. Protect your children by using age appropriate passenger restraint devices (Safety seats or seat belts for older children).
Best Practices:
For the best possible protection, keep infants in rear-facing child safety seats AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. Studies have proven it is far safer for an infant to ride facing backward so that the seat back can absorb most of a crash impact. Many convertible car seats are available with high weight limits for rear-facing children up to 50 pounds.
When children outgrow their rear-facing seats, they may ride in a forward-facing child safety seat with an internal five point harness, in the back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat.
Once children outgrow their forward-facing seats, they can graduate to a belt-positioning booster seat or a safety vest in the back seat, until the vehicle seat belts fit properly.
A child is ready to move to a seat belt when proper fit can be achieved. The child should be able to sit all the way back against the auto seat, their knees bent comfortably at the front edge of the seat, the shoulder belt crossed at the color bone, the lap belt as low as possible, across the top of the thighs, and remain seated in this manner for the entire trip.
It is recommended children ride in the back seat until 13 years of age.
ALTERNATIVES
N/A
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
El Dorado County Director of Communications and Outreach is coordinating with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Placerville Area Office on a joint community outreach effort to promote awareness of Safety Seat Checkup Week, the importance of ensuring that children are property restrained in the appropriate child safety seat, and that opportunities to receive free child safety seat inspections and installations from one of the CHP's specially trained Child Safety Seat Technicians are available.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
N/A
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
1) Clerk of the Board to obtain signature of Chair on a Proclamation recognizing May 6 - 8, 2018, as Safety Seat Checkup Week.
2) Clerk of the Board to provide copies of signed Proclamation to Director of Communications and Outreach and Lt. Commander Matt Stover of the CHP Placerville Area Office.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
N/A
CONTACT
Brenda Bailey, Assistant to Supervisor Ranalli, Board of Supervisors, District IV