Fifty-six unsafe car seats are off the road today.
(Safe Kids Skagit County vice president Erica Work hauls old, unsafe and recalled car seats away for recycling)
Safe Kids Skagit County members took the seats last week to Skagit River Steel and Recycling, in Burlington, for disassembly and recycling.
Among the 600 pounds of seats taken to recycling were 14 infant carriers, seven booster seats and 35 convertible and combination car seats.
“We appreciate Skagit River Steel taking these seats off our hands,” said Joni McSpadden, Safe Kids’ Child Passenger Safety Team captain. “We want to keep unsafe and outdated car seats off the streets, and out of landfills, too.”
Most of seats were discarded by parents at car seat checkups conducted by Safe Kids, its Child Passenger Safety Team, and Skagit County Medic One, which serves as the lead agency for Safe Kids.
During checkups, child passenger safety technicians inspect seats for safety under National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) guidelines and against national recall lists. Typical reasons for a car seat to no longer being suitable for use include being involved in a crash, being older than six years, being recalled by the car seat manufacturer, missing parts or pieces, or having been modified by the owner.
Skagit River Steel and Recycling has taken the used seats for the coalition a couple of times over the past two years. The plastic and metal parts and pieces that are salvageable will be put to other uses. Keeping the seats out of garbage dumpsters and landfills will ensure that the seat won’t be used again and won’t put a child at risk of being injured or killed in a crash.
The best car seat is one that fits the child and the car in which that child rides. Washington state law requires that a car seat must be used according to the manufacturers’ instructions. The law also requires that children be in a car seat of some kind until they are 8 years old, unless they are 4-feet-nine-inches tall. Children also must ride in the back seat of a vehicle until they are 13 years old.
Skagit County Medic One and Mount Vernon Fire Department conducts checkups by appointment and at Skagit Valley and Island hospitals on a regular basis. Contact Skagit County Medic One at 428-3236, or Mount Vernon Fire Department at 336-6277 to make an appointment or for more information.
(An article about this event appeared in the Dec. 16, 2009, edition of the Skagit Valley Herald)
