Lynn Fire Department inspecting child car seats for safety

LYNN – The Fire Department is helping to ensure that child safety seats installed in cars and trucks meet national safety standards.Firefighters from the department’s safety office will conduct a free checkpoint on Tuesday, May 13 at the Lynnfield Street fire station, 625 Lynnfield St., headquarters of the fire prevention and arson investigation services, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.The Fire Department in conjunction with the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security will staff the checkpoint with technicians certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) who can determine whether the car seat is safe.The NHTSA can provide information on child safety seat product recalls, ease of use and other data pertaining to how the seats adjust inside various makes and models of automobiles. Consumers can contact the NHTSA’s toll-free Vehicle Safety Hotline at (888) 327-4236 to report safety defects or to obtain information on cars, trucks, child restraints, and highway or traffic safety.Lynn Fire Capt. Joseph Zukas, the checkpoint coordinator, said Lynn union Local 739 of the International Association of Fire Fighters is funding the cost of the technicians and refreshments for the volunteers.”We’ll have firefighters and police officers from the neighboring communities helping out with the inspections and installations. We’re hoping to offer this as an ongoing program as we get more guys trained as technicians,” said Zukas, noting that the 32-hour course he and others completed to obtain the technician’s rating encompasses all aspects of child seating in automobiles.”Ninety percent of all car seats are installed incorrectly,” he said. “And lots of kids ride on their parent’s lap, which isn’t safe. It could be a cultural thing, but we want to educate them to safer ways.”The public is invited to drive their cars to the checkpoint where technicians will make certain it is properly installed and has not been subjected to a product recall for defects.”We have come across seats that were part of a recall,” Zukas said. “And some seats after six years are just too old to be effective. But no matter what, when people leave here, they will leave more safely than when they came in.”Injuries from motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among children in the U.S., based on statistics from the Centers for Disease Control.”Even a sudden stop can seriously injure a child who is not properly secured in a child safety seat, or a booster seat with safety belt combination,” Zukas said.For more information on child safety seats, go online to www.mass.gov/childsafetyseats.org.