INDIANAPOLIS — According to IMPD, three out of four car seats are used incorrectly.
To help fix that, the department and the IU School of Medicine teamed up with community partners to host a free inspection event.
Over 200 families gathered at Ivy Tech Community College’s Parking Lot 9 to learn how to use and install car seats correctly.
IMPD officers worked with officials from IU School of Medicine's Automotive Safety Program to install and educate community members on car seat safety.
Officials say the purpose of the event was to train safety technicians to install car seats properly, update them on new car seats and inform them of any recalls.
The training doubled as a community event, giving Hoosiers a chance to get their car seats checked. Attendees without car seats could also pick one up at the event.
“Car seats are a public health success,” Joseph O’Neil, with IU's Automotive Safety Program, said. “We’ve dropped the rate of infant motor vehicle fatalities by 75%, so when these are used correctly, they do a great job of keeping our infants and children safe.”
Russian, Spanish and Haitian-creole translators were on-site to help as many community members as possible.
If you were unable to make it today, you can always have your car seat inspected by the Automotive Safety Program. It’s open on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Appointments are required.
Safe Kids Worldwide provide information to local inspection stations that have trained car seat technicians who can help families choose and install the right seat.
To find inspection stations, click here and scroll down to the “Indiana” options.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Riley Hospital for Children was involved in this event instead of the IU School of Medicine.
