Press Release
Free car seat safety checks
The Council’s Safety and Risk team are offering parents, grandparents and carers the opportunity to have their child’s car seat checked at two free Car Seat Clinics.
They are on Monday 18 July in the Tesco car park from 11.00 to 15.00 and on Tuesday 19 July in the Co-op car park from 11.00 to 15.00.
The clinics hope to raise awareness about the dangers to young children of incorrectly fitted or inappropriate child car seats.
The Council’s Road Safety Officer Elaine Skinley said:
“Recent figures show a fall in child passenger casualties which is encouraging. However, we are still seeing children who are either not wearing a seatbelt or are in unsuitable or incorrectly fitted car seats.
“Folk can come along to one of the clinics and have their car seats checked by myself and our car seat expert Cathy. We will check the seat and straps and make sure that it is fitted correctly and give some practical advice to keep your children safe whilst on the move.
“You can also enter our prize draw for the chance to win one of five Maxi Cosi car seats. We have 10 “Bestvests” as runner up prizes. These are vests that secure the seatbelt on to the child’s shoulders at all times”.
Elaine is keen that as many people as possible take advantage of this opportunity for a free expert safety check. She said “It will only take a few minutes, and will give you great peace of mind.”
In tackling this vital road safety issue, Shetland Islands Council is supporting the Scottish Good Egg In-Car Child Safety Campaign. This national campaign has been running for 10 years and has a proven track record in significantly reducing casualty rates among child passengers across Scotland.
For more information about the 2011 Scottish Good Egg In-Car Child Safety Campaign go to www.protectchild.co.uk