South Ayrshire Council News

At Morrison’s in Troon to spread the word about the importance of fitting child car seats correctly.

147 people ensured their children were travelling safely when they had their child car seats checked by trained professionals.

South Ayrshire Council working in partnership with the Scottish Good Egg Guide to In-Car Child Safety, held two free clinics, one at Asda in Ayr and one at Morrisons in Troon, to encourage people to make sure that any child car seat in their car is fitted properly.

Of the 147 child seats that were checked by trained road safety professionals 20 had minor faults, 21 were not fitted property and had major faults and 1 was incompatible for the child or the vehicle. Advice was given on a range of issues about child car seats including correctly fitting, a seat, best way to fit front or rear facing seats, retractable seatbelts, compatibility and position within a car.

The clinics were designed to raise awareness of the dangers of transporting unrestrained or incorrectly restrained children in vehicles. Previous campaigns revealed that many child car seats are incorrectly fitted and some children are not restrained at all which is against the law. If correctly restrained when travelling in a car a child is far less likely to be injured or killed in a collision.

People who had just bought new child car seats or were going to be using one in the near future made good use of the clinics to get advice and assistance on how to fit them properly. People awaiting the birth of a baby, parents of young children, grandparents, aunts, uncles and many others took advantage of the opportunity to learn more about child car seat safety.

Councillor Peter Convery, Sustainability and the Environment Portfolio Holder said: "The free clinics attracted people from across South Ayrshire and beyond and it is heartening to know that so many people are keen to ensure that they make any child travelling in their car as safe as possible.

"One child injured or killed on our roads is one too many, so we must all do everything we can to make sure children are properly secured when they are in our cars."

Here are some of the comments made about the car seat clinic

"Very helpful advice, friendly and knowledgeable team."

A parent who knew about the clinic from a newspaper advert quoted "very helpful – found out things I did not know about".

"Very informative and really glad the seats were checked."

"Thank you. Very much appreciated – good reassurance given."

"Very friendly and helpful. Feel much more confident putting my granddaughter in car seat. Thank you. Good service."

"Very helpful and useful. Fast, friendly service".

If you require any further information about car seat safety telephone 01292 616371 or 616249.