Valentine’s gift for kids:

 Parents must take heed of safety seat dangers

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Virginia State Police are encouraging parents to show their love today by making sure their children’s passenger safety seats are properly installed.

Fourteen infants and toddlers were killed across the Commonwealth in traffic crashes last year, according to the state police. Five of the children were in seats that were improperly installed, while another seven were not secured in any safety or booster seat — which is required by law in Virginia.

The victims ranged in age from 4 months to 5 years old.

Joining forces with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other state and local leaders, Virginia State Police officers are commemorating Child Passenger Safety Week through Friday.

And Valentine’s Day, officials believe, is a good time to spur awareness among parents of this danger. “Typically, when we do safety seat checks, 80 percent are not installed properly,” Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Conroy said.

While Southwest Virginia troopers are planning a child safety seat check in Smyth County today, Conroy said parents in other counties can still observe the day by learning more about the issue of improperly installed safety seats, and making an effort to learn how to correct the problem.

For maximum safety, officials spearheading Child Passenger Safety Week provided the following “Four Steps for Kids” for parents and caregivers to remember and follow:

— For the best possible protection keep infants in the back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible up to the height or weight limit of the particular seat. At a minimum, keep infants rear-facing until a minimum of age 1 and at least 20 pounds;

— When children outgrow their rear-facing seats (at a minimum age 1 and at least 20 pounds) they should ride in forward-facing child safety seats, in the back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds);

— Once children outgrow their forward-facing seat (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds), they should ride in booster seats, in the back seat, until the vehicle seat belts fit properly. Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall);

— When children outgrow their booster seats, (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall) they can use the adult seat belt in the back seat, if it fits properly (lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt across the chest).

We commend Virginia officials for their work with this very important public awareness campaign, and encourage parents throughout the two Virginias to take heed of the potential, unintentional dangers with child safety seats.

With our society’s great advances in technology, there is no reason to lose the life of one child due to improperly installed safety seats or unrestrained youth during an accident.