Campaign to offer free child car seat safety checks

June 22, 2019 at 1:00 pm

A clinic offering free safety checks on children’s car seats is to be held in Kirkwall at the beginning of next month.

When it comes to getting a handle on the details of child car seat safety, it’s the little things that matter.

That’s the message coming from Orkney’s Road Safety Forum ahead of free car seat checks being offered in Orkney next month when the national ‘Good Egg’ campaign visits the county.

69 per cent of car seats checked at last year’s “Good Egg” clinic in Orkney were found to be incorrectly fitted.

The good news is that most of these — 67 per cent — were minor and easily rectifiable issues such as incorrect harness or head-rest height, too much slack in belts or harnesses, or having the carry handle in the wrong position.

But it’s these little details can make a big difference to children’s safety says Councillor Andrew Drever, chairman of the Orkney Road Safety Forum: “Any emergency service representative will tell you that making sure your car seat is fitted properly to your child and your vehicle can make all the difference when it comes to decreasing the risk of serious injury in the event of an accident.”

The Road Safety Forum — which includes partners such as Orkney Islands Council, NHS Orkney, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue, and Scottish Ambulance Service — has helped arrange and publicise the Good Egg clinics since they started visiting Orkney in 2009. This year local Scottish Fire and Rescue team will once again have a fire engine at the clinic to help draw attention to the clinic.

Councillor Drever added: “The safety checks are carried out by a specially trained Good Egg Safety expert, not police officers – so people should not feel they are at risk of getting into trouble.

“Rather it’s an opportunity to get some reassurance that your car seat is compatible with your vehicle, and to get tips and advice on any adjustments that would improve the car seat’s performance. We’d urge anyone who drives children about – whether that’s childminders, grandparents and parents or wider friends – to drop into the clinic. It is five or ten minutes of your time well spent.”

The Good Egg Safety Child Seat clinic will be held in the Tesco car park in Kirkwall on Wednesday July 3, running from 11am to 4pm. There’s no need to book — just look for the Good Egg rep in the Tesco foyer, or head for the red fire engine.