- Video shows the current car seat requirements in California and how to properly install them.
- CHP Officer Tomas Martinez said 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. Children older than 2 years old and over 40 pounds are required to sit in a forward-facing position.
- Community members can get their children's car seats inspected Friday at Garden in the Sun Park between 10am and 1pm.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Several factors come into play when it comes to child safety seats, I spoke to CHP who told me the current car seat requirements in California and how to properly install them.
Officer Tomas Martinez gave me a demonstration of the proper way to install a child safety seat.
According to Martinez, 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.
Though car seats can be restrained using seat belts, Martinez says the safest way to secure them is by using the tether systems—an anchoring system that every vehicle has been equipped with since 2003.
Once clipped he says, the strap is tightened so that the seat doesn't move more than an inch left or right. For best results, he suggests people add body weight to the seat to fasten the strap.
As for children older than 2 years old and over 40 pounds, Martinez says they are required to sit in a forward-facing position.
Though the same tether system is used, this position requires the rear end of the seat to be anchored.
When purchasing a car seat, Martinez suggests that parents buy them in new conditions AND check the manual and expiration date.
"Every car seat is going to have label sometimes it's going to give you the date it was manufactured and the expiration date," said Martinez, "If it only shows the manufacture date, after six years, that seat is no longer good."
To raise awareness of car seat safety, Assemblymemeber Dr. Jasmeet Bains has partnered with CHP and Arvin PD along with others, to offer a free car seat safety inspection in Arvin.
"Our initial car seat check in Delano, about a couple months back, we had an overwhelming response. We had a hundred people that showed up," said Bains.
After the success of the first event, Bains decided to take the event into other communities like Arvin.
Considering the role car safety seats play when lowering the risk of child fatalities, Bains a limited amount of free car seats will be distributed at the event.
As a physician, Bains says, "In any type of accident, I'm seeing kids come in that could've been prevented if they were in a proper car seat."
Community members can get their children's car seats inspected Friday at Garden in the Sun Park between 10
am and 1pm.
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:
