TRAVERSE CITY -- If you're a parent and have a toddler or child that uses a car seat, you might be surprised to know that 84% parents are not securing their kids into safety seats correctly.
For this very reason a program put on by Safe Kids North Shore is aiming to help parents protect their kids out on the roads.
Expecting Mother Brittany Tersigni says, "This is our pride and joy and we want to make sure that's she's safe at all times."
Brittany Tersigni and Gregory Needham are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first child and in the mean time they're taking advantage of the safe kids north shore free car seat clinics which is a program created eleven years ago by Jennifer Ritter.
Safe Kids North Shore Creator Jennifer Ritter says, "If a disease where killing our child at the unintentional injuries is, the public would be outraged and demand the killer be stopped."
Ritter says this quote from Surgeon General C- Evert Koop sums up the mission of the child safety programs they provide.
She says that most parents don't realize how everyday activities like driving your car are the things that kill the majority of children under 14 years old.
She explains, "It's the most dangerous thing you do with your child everyday because it's unpredictable...”
Ritter says it's refreshing to see parents of infants, toddlers and even big kids participating in the free car seat checks because most aren't doing it properly, "In the last 3 months and we do car seat checks every two weeks, we haven't seen a proper seat in that time."
Parents meet one-on-one with a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician.
Ritter says, "Our goal is not be a car seat installation service, it's to educate the parent or grandparent so that they can duplicate what we do."
The techs are trained on all the latest car seat technology because manufacturers are constantly coming up with new models.
She explains, "We look over the seat to see if it has any recalls or defects, we see if it's a fit for their car because there thousands of models of car seats and there’s thousands of vehicles... they don't all fit together ....we show the parent how the child should be properly placed in the seat."
Parents say the program really works.
Expecting Dad Gregory Needham says, "I think we learned more than we knew before-- and when changing out to the next car seat we'll definitely come back and do it again."
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