Car Seat Check and Recycling in Moses Lake this Saturday

MOSES LAKE - Safe Kids Grant County is partnering with Kim Janke State Farm and the Central Basin Traffic Safety Task Force to host “Car Seat Round-Up” today.

The car seat check-up and recycling even will be held at the Kim Janke State Farm office located at 420 West Broadway in Moses Lake.

According to new data from Safe Kids Worldwide and the General Motors Foundation, parents are making five critical, but fixable, mistakes when using car seats,. Seventy-three percent of car seats are not being used correctly.

Safety steps every parent should take include keeping their children in rear- facing car seats for as long as possible, selecting the correct seat for the weight, height or age of the child, tightening the harness enough and knowing when to let kids ride in the front seat.

“While hand-me-down clothes are great, hand-me-down car seats are not,” Safe Kids Grant County Coordinator Maria Vargas said. “There is no way to know for sure if it’s been in a car crash. What if they washed the straps? What if it’s more than 6 years old?”

There are better options for families, Vargas added. They can bring their used car seats or boosters to the Kim Janke State Farm on Saturday.

“Child car seat inspectors will refit your child with a new one at a discounted price of $30 for car seats and $15 booster seats,” Vargas said.

Families are encouraged to recycle their old car seats, even if a new seat is not needed. More than 90 percent of the materials will be recycled.

Local FED EX staff will ship the recyclable parts to a car seat recycling center based in Portland at no cost to the families or the community.