Road safety campaign focuses on child seats

The latest phase of the ongoing 95 Alive campaign is aiming to highlight the dangers posed by child seats which are fitted incorrectly in vehicles.

Senior road safety officials are now hoping to recruit medical professionals along with staff from North Yorkshire’s children’s centres to spread the message about the threat posed by an incorrectly fitted car seat.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways, Gareth Dadd, said: “It is crucial that the right car seats are used at the right time, it can mean the difference between life and death. For parents and carers, it can give peace of mind that their children are being carried as safely as possible.”

The York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership’s mascot, the Seatbelt Sheriff, will be used to get the message across about how a correctly fitted child seat can save lives and prevent injuries.

The sheriff appears on height charts and posters which have been sent out to more than 250 GP surgeries, dental practices and children’s centres.

A survey last year revealed more than half of the child seats that were inspected were either incorrectly fitted or were incompatible with the vehicle in which they were being used. One in five children were being transported in seats which were found to have major faults.

Of the people questioned who bought new car seats, more than half said they did not receive any advice from a trained retailer, or were not asked about the height and weight of their child.

The 95 Alive campaign, which was established to prevent 95 fatalities on North Yorkshire’s roads, has seen an estimated 126 lives saved since 2005.