DPS safety event to include child seat tests

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September 1, 2012

DPS safety event to include child seat tests

Staff Report Gainesville Daily Register The Daily Register Sat Sep 01, 2012, 05:07 PM CDT

Gainesville — The Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) annual driving safety clinic should offer education on the importance staying buckled and watching out for the other guy.

The clinic is set for Sept. 15, near Cooke County’s current Emergency Medical Services building, 305 S. Chestnut St. in Gainesville. It will include a simulated rollover accident plus instructions from technicians on the proper way to install child car seats.

DPS Public Information Officer Mark Tackett said the event is a joint effort among his department along with Cooke County EMS and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“It’s to ensure that children are as safe as possible when they are riding in a vehicle,” Tackett said Friday.

The officer, who is federally certified to oversee such clinics, is now in his fourth year of conducting them. In 2011, he said he has seen a fair share of wrecks where children were injured due to an improperly installed car seat.

“People are not being educated on putting them in correctly,” he said. “That’s what we’re there to do: educate parents on the best way to keep their children safe in the vehicle.”

This problem appears to be widespread. Recent statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicated roughly 80 percent of seats are used incorrectly.

“Out of the hundreds of car seats I’ve seen, I’ve never seen one put in right,” Tackett said in 2011. An inventory of free car seats is expected to be available to the public during the clinic. Whoever attends is welcome to open their vehicles and get a car seat inspection.

“We’ll pull them out and go over instructions with the parent,” Tackett said. “And if something’s wrong with their seat and we have one that will work, we will give it to them.”

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DPS safety event to include child seat tests

Gainesville City Council has proposed an ordinance that would place restrictions on smoking in certain public areas in the city. How do you feel the council should handle the issue?

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