Funds from the Idaho Transportation Department once again helped SafeKids Worldwide and Nell J. Redfield Memorial Hospital host a car seat check.  The event last week resulted in 20 total car seat checks, and 16 newly distributed car seats.  

On hand to help were Kathy Hubbard, Brenda Barney, Sally Stocks, Donna Potter and Bannock County liaison John Everson.   

Stocks said, “We really like doing this for the community.  Not everyone can afford new car seats, we know.  And you have other situations where there’s maybe a grandparent that has the kids every now and then and needs a seat.”  

Kylee Francom was told about the car seat check by her mother Stephanie in Malad, and headed over with her daughter Amy.  When it was all said and done, they left with a new, safe car seat.  

The program is the result of decades worth of data showing that improperly installed or imperfectly functioning car seats lead to a considerable number of injuries and fatalities.  It is obvious that the cost of such an injury is far more significant than the cost of a new carseat, financially and emotionally.  But the pricetag for a seat should never be a barrier to providing the safest ride possible, and the car seat clinic is designed to make sure anyone needing an upgrade, replacement, or seat will not have to factor seat cost into their decision-making.  

The clinic also provided inspections of existing seats, which John Everson finds are often installed incorrectly.