Child Passenger Safety
Our shop manager Mike Cooper just received his Child Passenger Safety Technician certification, and on behalf of everyone here at Big Oak Citgo, we want to say congratulations!
Now that we have a Kids Safe Worldwide (more info below) certified tech in the shop, you can count on us to handle all of your child passenger safety inspections. Best of all, we’re offering them free of charge. No catch. Just make an appointment to come down to the shop, and we’ll conduct the inspection and send you on your way. However, it wouldn’t hurt to get your PA auto inspection while you’re at it, too.
We want to use this opportunity to discuss the importance of child vehicle safety, and how we can all work together to ensure that our children are as safe as possible when they’re riding in your car.
Statistics
- 8,000 families lose a child annually because of a preventable injury.
- 9 million children are treated for injuries every year
- One young person dies in an accident every 90 seconds
- For every fatality, there are 10 injuries among youths
- Road injuries are the number 1 cause of accidental child fatality in the U.S.
Child Passenger Safety Is Imperative
After you come to Big Oak for an official CPS inspection, there are a variety of habits that you, as a parent, should try to form in order to ensure that your child is as safe as can be in your vehicle.
Always Use the Correct Car Seat – Neonatal infants to 3-year-olds should use rear-facing car seats, while toddlers between the ages of 2 to as old as 7 should use forward-facing mechanisms. 4 to 12-year-olds should move into booster seats, and depending on height and weight, 8-year-olds and up should use just their seatbelts. Every car seat or booster seat has manufacturer’s recommendations for height and weight. Heed them until your child grows out of what the manufacturer recommends.
The Back Seat Is Safer for Little Riders – The back seat is the safest place to ride in general, and front seat airbags’ impacts are too powerful for children to handle. Never let a rider under the age 12 sit up front, and if your young tween/teenager is on the smaller side, use your best judgement.
Learn the Ins and Outs of Your Car’s Child Safety Mechanisms – As part of the CPS inspection, we’ll walk you through the components in detail. You’ll want to know how to activate child safety locks, window lock switches and the interior trunk release. You’ll also want to know if your vehicle is equipped with anti-pinch (automatic reverse) windows. Instruct your children not to lean against the side panels, where side impact air bags are located.
Touch base today to receive a free CPS inspection, or to learn more about the other PA auto inspections we perform at Big Oak Citgo. Safe travels!