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Child safety seats rarely installed correctly By Dace Cochran Let�s start with a couple questions for parents. How many of you have used a child safety seat? How many have faithfully made sure it�s installed properly? Or were you like me � just put the thing in there and tighten it up? Did you feel confident that the seat was in correctly? Did you go around a corner and then watch in the rear-view mirror as your kids tipped over to the side even though you'd put that seat in as tight as you could? When that happened to me, I just got out and cinched that seat-belt strap tighter. And down the road we went. Then a little later, the kids starting tilting over in their car seats again. I thought: "It can't be me, these seat belts must be defective or something." I learned differently. In July of 1998 I was sent to a four-day class in Bend to learn all you ever wanted to know about child safety seats. Before I went, I was thinking to myself, "What in the world can they tell me about car seats that takes four days?" By the time the four days were over, my opinion had changed to "Why don't they give us some more time to go over these things?" The endless combinations of different types of child seats and different model cars was mind-boggling. I finished the class as a certified child safety-seat technician. I found out why my kids kept tipping over when I turned a corner: I hadn't used a locking clip that was needed for my particular type of seat-belt system. (I also hadn't bothered trying to read the directions, either.) I learned why and when children need to face forward or backward in the car. I learned where the straps should be slotted and how tight the child seat should be in the car seat. This training put me in a position to join other trained safety-seat technicians in the area and conduct child safety-seat clinics. These clinics are free: Parents can stop by for just a few minutes and see whether their child seat has been recalled for some reason. They can be shown the proper installation of a child seat. They can be shown the proper fit for the child placed in the child seat. In all the clinics I've participated in over the last two years, I cannot remember one seat passing an inspection. Clinics are held four to six times per year in various locations in the Rogue Valley. The next one is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the North Fred Meyer parking lot (near Taco Bell). The greatest advantage of my training is that I now feel confident that all my children are traveling safely and securely. Following a clinic inspection, so can you. Dace Cochran, a patrol deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff�s Office, writes a column on police issues. Questions or issues you�d like to see him address? Write him in care of the Mail Tribune Newsroom, PO Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501, or at [email protected]. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA