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SHOCKINGLY, statistics show that four out of five car seats are incorrectly fitted. Receiving correct advice and guidance is crucial and tomorrow, Killarney Gardaí will be joining forces with the Road Safety Authority’s “Check it Fits” service.

A team of experts will be offering help at Deerpark Tesco to provide a free service for parents to avail of practical advice and expert fitting of their child car seats. “Following this information and awareness campaign by the Road Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána, we will commence an enforcement operation between now and Christmas. This enforcement operation is specific to Killarney at the moment,” said Sergeant Dermot O’Connell of Killarney Gardai.

The service takes between 10-15 minutes, is free of charge and offers parents and guardians reassurance that their child is safe while travelling in the car.

Since ‘Check it Fits’ began in October 2013, the RSA service has checked over 8,000 child car seats and restraints across Ireland. Of these, 82% required some adjustment. Worryingly, 75% of seats required a major adjustment, of which 4% were deemed not fit for purpose and condemned, meaning they have the potential to cause injury or even death in the event of a collision. If your child’s car seat or restraint is incorrectly fitted, the ‘Check it Fits’ experts will advise on how to fix the problem, demonstrate how to fit the restraint correctly and answer any queries participants might have to avoid potential serious or fatal injury in the event of a collision

Aisling Leonard, Senior Road Safety Promotion Officer for the RSA, said: “Almost two out of five children killed are passengers and Garda reports into collisions indicate that one in ten children were not wearing a seatbelt or using a child restraint in 2014. More recent statistics have shown an increase in child passenger fatalities on the road. The reality is that if a child’s car seat isn’t fitted correctly, it could lead to a serious or fatal injury in the event of a collision. Having a correctly fitted car seat is a simple measure parents, grandparents and guardians can take to ensure children are safe while travelling by car.”

Moyagh Murdock, CEO of the RSA, said: “The RSA ‘Check it Fits’ service is there to provide professional, trustworthy advice to parents and guardians around child car seat safety. Parents all over the country are availing of this service to get practical advice and expert fitting of their car seats. We would advise all parents to ensure that when they buy a new car seat, that they get the seat fitted by an expert. We would also advise that parents to check the label on their car seat to make sure it’s appropriate for your child’s age, weight and height, to make sure your seat is firmly installed in the car, and to always ensure that your child’s harness is fitted snugly for every trip.”

For more information on Check it Fits and for an up-to-date schedule of upcoming road shows, visit http://www.rsa.ie/checkitfits