National Child Passenger Safety Week continues through Saturday and local police are stepping up to help make sure kids in vehicles are properly protected.
Pennsylvania State Police in Butler are hosting a child seat check on Saturday, Sept. 23 at the Cranberry Township Fire Department. There is no charge to stop by this event and no appointments are necessary.
Seat belts need to be properly positioned to function correctly for different ages in the event of a crash. According to Trooper Ronald (Dan) Kesten, the law has changed in recent years for very young children.
“A child that up to 2-years-old, according to the law, must be in a rear-facing car seat,” Kesten said. “It used to be a child up to 1-year-old; however, they just recently changed that.”
Kesten continued by explaining that motorists should not expect a break on a citation from an officer if a child is not properly secured.
“There’s a lot of guys out there that give some breaks from time to time with the motorists as far as speeding or stop sign violations or turn signal violations but I don’t know of any police officer that is willing to give a break when it comes to securing a child in a vehicle,” he said.
Anyone who transports children, including grandparents, aunts and uncles, neighbors, and other caregivers, are encouraged to visit this check on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.
Written By: Ryan Saeler for the Butler Radio Network