California Highway Patrol offers free child passenger safety seat check
Certified technicians will inspect and educate parents on correct car seat use
– The California Highway Patrol is dedicating the upcoming week to promoting child passenger safety across the state.
The patrol announced that car seat inspections and education will be available Saturday, June 14, beginning at 8 a.m. at the Target parking lot located at 11990 Los Osos Valley Road in San Luis Obispo. The free event will include car seat inspections by certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians. Technicians will teach parents and caregivers how to choose the right car seats for their children and how to install and use them correctly.
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children in the United States. Using age- and size-appropriate child restraints is the best way to reduce these deaths. In 2024, more than one-third of child passengers killed in car crashes were not in car seats, booster seats, or wearing seat belts. Those children could have survived if they had been properly buckled.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends keeping children rear-facing as long as possible, up to the top height or weight allowed by their particular seats. Once a child outgrows the rear-facing car seat, they should use a forward-facing car seat with a harness. After outgrowing the car seats, children should be placed in booster seats until they are big enough to fit seat belts properly without assistance. The safest place for all children under 13 is in the back seat of the car.
The child passenger safety seat check-up event will run from 8 a.m. to noon. All parents and caregivers are invited to attend.
