Deputies participate in Child Passenger Safety Program

Three deputies from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office participated recently in training to receive certification in the National Child Passenger Safety Certification Training Program. Road Patrol deputy Aaron Hanks, Victim’s Advocate Vickie Bottoms, and Public Information Officer Jimmy Watt participated in the training, held for two days at the Easley Campus of Tri-County Technical College.  In addition, there was a Car Seat Inspection Day at Easley Fire Department.  The classes were held in cooperation with DHEC, The National Child Passenger Safety Board, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Safe Kids Upstate.  Those who attended will be nationally certified.  “Safe Kids Upstate is in partnership with Greenville Children’s Hospital thru Greenville Health System, but we partner with Oconee Medical Center,” according to Daby Snipes, Special Projects Coordinator for the Expansion Program for Safe Kids Upstate.  “You have to go through a children’s hospital so that is why you have to go through those agencies.  Our mission is to prevent injury in childhood for zero to nineteen.  There are different areas we focus on and one of those areas is child passenger safety.  We try to offer that several times throughout the year because we want our families to travel safe.  Four out of five car seats are installed incorrectly.”  One of the biggest mistakes that people make when it comes to child safety seats, according to Snipes, is that once they put the seat in, they never have to touch it again, or, they go back to check and make sure it is secured properly.  Snipes says you must do that every second or third ride because the seats will loosen up during the course of travel.  Another issue, according to Snipes, can be the parents, who if they are not buckling up, can be a danger to a child who is in a car seat.  All of those efforts to keep the child safe would be canceled at that point.  According to South Carolina Child Passenger Safety Seat Law, every driver of a motor vehicle (passenger car, pickup truck, van or recreational vehicle) operated on the highways and streets of this State when transporting a child five years of age or younger upon the public streets and highways of the State must provide an appropriate child passenger restraint system and must secure the child as follows: Children from birth to 1 year old, or who weigh less than 20 pounds, must be secured in a rear-facing child safety seat. Children 1 through 5 years weighing 20 to 40 pounds must be restrained in a forward-facing child seat. Children 1 through 5 weighing 40 to 80 pounds must be secured in a belt-positioning booster seat. Children under the age of 6 are not required to be in booster seats if they weight more than 80 pounds or if they can sit with their backs against the car’s seat and bend their legs over the seat edge without slouching. Children under 6 may not sit in the front passenger seat.  However, this restriction does not apply if the vehicle has no rear passenger seats or if all other rear passengers’ seats are occupied by children less than 6 years old.  Violators are subject to a $150 fine.  This law does not apply to taxis, church, school, and day care buses, or commercial vehicles.  Officials remind parents and caregivers that technicians are only educators, not installers, and ultimately all responsibility of decisions rest with the parent or caregiver.  Regardless, technicians should never support a parent or caregiver in breaking the law or doing something that is against the manufacturer’s instructions.  Remember too, that the “best” child restraint is the one that fits your child, the one that fits your vehicle, and the one you will use correctly every time.