RIGHT RESTRAINT CHP OFFERS TO INSPECT CHILD SAFETY SEAT.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

LANCASTER - The California Highway Patrol is using Child Safety Seat Awareness Month to remind parents to secure their children in seats appropriate for their age and size.

Officials say more than 70 percent of children injured or killed in car crashes each year are not properly secured in safety seats or not restrained at all.

``People out here need to get their safety seats inspected and make sure that the car seat is not an old seat or recalled seat and that their seat fits their car properly,'' said Officer Joel Merrill, the Lancaster CHP office's certified child safety seat technician.

The CHP's certified technicians will inspect safety seats for wear, age, and any possible recalls and will show parents how to properly install the seats.

The technicians spend more than 40 hours in training each year on the various types of seats and how to install them in every vehicle seat-belt configuration.

Of the hundreds of seats he inspects each year, Merrill said, only about 3 percent are properly installed. The national average is between 5 percent and 6 percent, officials said.

Since Jan. 1, the rule is that any child under age 6 or under 60 pounds must be placed in a child safety seat when traveling in a motor vehicle. Before the state law was changed, the limit was under 4 years old and 40 pounds.

CHP officials said they would like to see parents put kids in proper seats until they are at least 8 years old. After safety seats are no longer required, officials said they would like to see parents put their children in safety booster seats.

A trend Merrill has seen recently is children being buckled into the car seat but the seats not buckled into the vehicle.

``When we walk up, we can see the child strapped into the seat but if you pull on the seat you can tell it's not even buckled in,'' Merrill said.

To have a child's car seat inspected for safety, officials urge residents to call their local CHP office and schedule an appointment.

The Lancaster CHP office can be reached at [phone]. The Mojave CHP office phone number is [phone].

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(color) CHP Officer Joel Merrill checks if the safety seat for Teresa Cuthbertson's 5-month-old son, Bryce, was correctly installed. Officials say more than 70 percent of children hurt or killed in car crashes each year were improperly secured.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer