Free Child Safety Car Seat Inpections

Child Passenger Safety Week is this week, the third full week of September. During this time, parents and other caregivers across Missouri can have certified child passenger safety technicians inspect their car seats and provide advice for free.

Missouri law requires all children younger than 8 years old to be in a child safety seat or booster seat until they weigh 80 pounds or are at least 4 feet 9 inches tall.

Ninety five percent of car safety seats in Missouri are not properly installed, however, and one in three Missouri teens are still not buckling up, the Missouri Department of Transportation said in a news release.

In 2009, about two children age 12 and younger were killed because of improper car safety seat installations, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states on its website.

In that year, an average of 340 people were injured as occupants in motor vehicle crashes, the administration states on its site. For children ages 1 through 12, such injuries were the leading cause of death.

Those interested in service should stop by a car seat inspection station at one of the eight Jefferson County Sites, listed below. The locations are and have 10 years of car seat inspection experience. 

Registration is needed for free program and people interested should call 314-731-3424 to make an appointment. No walk-ins are accepted.

List of inspection stations

• Cedar Hill Fire Protection District, 6766 Cedar Hill Rd, Cedar Hill, MO
• Valle Ambulance District, 12363 State Route 21, DeSoto, MO
• Jefferson R-7 Fire Protection District, 13000 State Rd TT, Festus, MO
• Joachim Plattin Emergency Medical Services, 619 Collins Dr. , Festus, MO
• Herculaneum Police Department, #1 Parkwood Ct, Herculaneum, MO
• High Ridge Fire Protection District, 2842 High Ridge, High Ridge, MO
• Jefferson County Health Department, 405 Main Street, Hillsboro, MO
• Pacific Fire Protection District, 910 West Osage, Pacific, MO

Hazelwood Patch Editor Candace Jarrett contributed to this article.