Families in Norfolk are being invited to get their child car seats checked for free next month.

Child car seat – photo supplied by Norfolk County Council

Norfolk County Council’s road safety team and crews from Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service are once again taking to the road during the school holidays to host more than a dozen free child car seat checks across the county.

More Norfolk children are killed or seriously injured whilst in a car than they are as a pedestrian or cyclist.  1 in 3 child car seats are incorrectly fitted in Norfolk but almost all of these can be fixed immediately.  Child car seats are a legal requirement in the UK and make children far less likely to be seriously hurt in a collision. But they must be correctly fitted and adjusted to offer maximum protection, and it is easy to get it wrong. The events are running until 16th August from 10am until 2pm at the locations listed below.  Families are invited to come along to get their child seats checked and to ask our team of experts about any aspect of road safety.

The County Council’s road safety experts are also using the 18 free child seat safety checks to encourage parents to keep children rear facing in the car for much longer than families traditionally do in this country.

Scandinavian countries routinely keep their children in a rear facing seat until they are four or five years old. Research proves this is five times safer than the UK approach of putting a child in a forward facing seat at around nine months old.

Iain Temperton, the County Council’s Road Safety Manager, said: “I would urge anybody carrying young people to visit one of our events. It will only take five minutes but that will be time well spent if it improves the safety of the next generation of road users.”

Alistair Steele, Consultant Anaesthetist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kings Lynn said: “During my time as an air ambulance doctor and as a trauma doctor at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn I have seen too many children severely injured from car accidents.

“In addition to the messages about driving safely we really want to help parents and carers get the right advice about child safety in cars, and there is a confusing array of restraints and booster systems available.

“The best thing to do is to take advice from a professional car seat fitter to ensure you’ve not only chosen a safe seat but also it is installed correctly. Well fitted, rear facing seats in the back of the car are probably your best chance of protecting children in the event of a crash.”

Child seat safety check events are taking place in the following locations from 10am until 2pm: