Submitted article

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Just in time for the busy holiday travel season, parents and caregivers can make an appointment at their local AAA store to have their car or booster seat inspected for free by a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician. This is part of AAA’s new Child Safety Seat Check Program, which aims to protect parents’ most precious cargo.

Car crashes remain the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 13. Proper use of child safety seats greatly reduces the likelihood that a child will be killed in a crash, but roughly three quarters of child safety seats are used incorrectly. Additional statistics, including a list of the top car seat mistakes caregivers make, can be found at SafeSeats4Kids.AAA.com.

“No parent wants to gamble with their child’s safety,” said Emma Lindholm, traffic safety program manager at AAA Ohio Auto Club. “Through this new program we aim to educate caregivers on the proper way to install car seats and booster seats so they can leave knowing that their kids are safe.”

Currently, participating AAA locations include:

  • Bellefontaine
  • Bucyrus
  • Canton
  • Celina
  • Car Care Plus: Columbus Southeast
  • Delaware
  • Fremont
  • Lancaster
  • Lima
  • Marion
  • Middletown
  • Mount Vernon
  • Polaris
  • Reynoldsburg/Pickerington
  • Sandusky
  • Tiffin
  • Wadsworth
  • West Chester
  • Westerville
  • Wooster
  • Worthington
  • Zanesville

AAA Ohio Auto Club started the program with 13 locations in September, 2014. Since that time, the auto club has added nine additional locations, and plans to expand the program by working with Safe Kids Worldwide to certify additional technicians in 2015. Phone numbers and addresses for current seat check locations can be found at AAA.com/ChildSafety.

As North America’s largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides more than 54 million members with travel-, insurance-, financial-, and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers. AAA clubs can be visited online at AAA.com.