It’s National Child Passenger Safety Week and state officials want to make sure your kids are buckled up properly.   If you’re using a child safety seat, the chances are that it may not be properly installed. Safety checks in the past found as many as 8 out of 10 seats were not being used properly.

Erin Waters, a spokeswoman for PennDOT, says local and state police, as well as safety partners, are offering safety checks this week.  You can find a list at pakidstravelsafe.org.

In 2010 in Pennsylvania, nine children ages newborn to 8 years were killed in vehicle crashes. More than two thousand children in that age group were injured.

Waters says safety checks in the past have found says that were not properly secured to the vehicle. She says children may not be in the appropriate seat for their height, age and weight, or the child may not be properly strapped into the seat.

Waters says if you can’t get to one of the scheduled safety checks, you should go to the web site drivesafepa.org and look at the child passenger safety page.  She says you can also schedule a check appointment with your local state police barracks, or with the American Academy of Pediatrics Pennsylvania Chapter at 1-800-car-belt.

Waters says that Pennsylvania law requires children under age four to ride in a federally approved car seat that meets their age, height and weight requirements.  Children between 4 and 8 must use a booster seat.  PennDOT recommends that children up to age 12 ride in the back seat, regardless of whether they’re in a booster seat.

**Photo courtesy of pakidstravelsafe.org