New drive to tackle alarming number of incorrectly fitted child car seats across the borough

Sefton Council is hosting a new initiative to raise awareness among parents, grandparents and carers about the dangers to young children of incorrectly fitted or inappropriate child car seats.

Last year alone 71% of child car seats were found to be not safely fitted or incompatible to the child/vehicle.

To tackle the road safety issue, Sefton Council is working in partnership with the award winning Good Egg In-Car Child Safety campaign; which has proven record of success in significantly reducing casualty rates among child passengers throughout the UK.

Cllr John Fairclough, Cabinet Member for Locality Services, said: "It's a startling fact that an unrestrained child passenger can suffer fatal injuries in a collision at less than 5mph.

“Although well intentioned parents may install a child car seat to protect their child, the danger of serious injury is just as great if the seat is not fitted properly or if they have chosen the wrong type of seat for the height, weight and age of the child."

Cllr John Joseph Kelly, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Safeguarding, added: "We are delighted to be launching the Good Egg campaign in Sefton and strongly urge anyone with responsibility for carrying children in their car to learn more about this vital issue by visiting the website – and, most of all, by getting their child car seats checked out by experts at the event for complete peace of mind."

A free car seat checking event will take place during August to ensure maximum coverage across the region. Taking place from 11am – 4pm on August, 18 at Morrison’s, Winter Gardens, Lord St, Southport PR8 1HR.

Sefton Council is planning similar events across the borough subject to suitable venues being found.

Parents can find out more about the campaign at www.goodeggcarsafety.com

Residents can also get more information on In Car Safety by e-mail: road.safety@sefton.gov.uk