KAPA‘A — Kaua‘i Police Department officers were busy, monitoring traffic and doing free infant car seat safety inspections along Olohena Road fronting the Kapa‘a Middle School Friday afternoon. “We’ve been pretty busy,” said Lieutenant Jon Takamura of the KPD Traffic
KAPA‘A — Kaua‘i Police Department officers were busy, monitoring traffic and doing free infant car seat safety inspections along Olohena Road fronting the Kapa‘a Middle School Friday afternoon.
“We’ve been pretty busy,” said Lieutenant Jon Takamura of the KPD Traffic Safety Unit. “In the last hour, we’ve gone through more than 15 inspections, and at one point, there was a line of cars waiting for inspections. Several people said they came after reading about the inspections in the newspaper.”
Friday was the first of several infant car seat safety inspections being conducted by the Traffic Safety Unit in recognition of National Child Passenger Safety Week, states a county release.
“Car crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for children under 12 years of age in the United States,” Lt. Takamura said. “No matter how safe of a driver you are, collisions can happen at any time, and properly restraining your child could mean the difference between life and death.”
In order to be effective, car seats must be the right fit for both the child and vehicle. They must also be properly installed.
Car seat installation can be a complicated process for people and officials encourage drivers to attend a free car seat inspection event, which take place several times throughout the year at various child safety and traffic programs.
“We’re not here to punish people,” Lt. Takamura said. “We watch the flow of traffic and when there are children in the car, or car seats, we ask them to pull off so their child seats can be inspected.”
He said the police officers, all of whom are certified child passenger seat technicians, are also able to talk to parents and drivers about what to look for in car seats and how to tell if the seat is properly adjusted and installed. They are also qualified to answer questions parents may have.
During the stop, officers inspect the seat and the installation of the seat, making necessary recommendations or corrections on the spot.
Lt. Takamura said there have been instances where car seats have been passed down from other generations of children and are too worn out to be safe.
“In those cases, we recommend the seat be changed,” he said. “There have also been instances where the people just cannot afford a seat and are making do with what they are able to get. We’re not in the habit of giving away car seats, but there is a very limited supply of seats we can help those people with.”
National Child Passenger Safety Week is an awareness campaign spearheaded by the National Traffic Safety Administration, states the release.
The campaign is promoted locally by the State Department of Transportation and police departments from all four counties in an effort to educate the public on Hawai‘i’s child passenger restraint laws.
As part of that effort, officers statewide will be stepping up enforcement.
“Properly restraining your child in a vehicle is the single most important thing you can do to protect your child on the road,” Lt. Takamura said.
No person operating the motor vehicle shall transport a child under eight years of age except under the following circumstances, states the Hawai‘i Revised Statute 291-11.5:
• If a child is under four years of age, the person operating the motor vehicle shall ensure the child is properly restrained in a child passenger restraint system, which meets federal motor vehicle safety standards at the time of its manufacture.
• If the child is four years of age or older, but less than eight years of age, the person operating the motor vehicle shall ensure the child is properly restrained in a child safety seat or booster seat, which meets federal motor vehicle safety standards at the time of its manufacture.
• The exception is the child is more than four feet and nine inches in height or more than 40 pounds and traveling in a motor vehicle equipped only with lap belts, without shoulder straps, in the back seat.
Lt. Takamura said KPD Traffic Safety Unit will be hosting two more free car inspections and encourages parents to take advantage of this opportunity to ensure their children’s safety while traveling in vehicles.
The next safety inspection station will take place Sept. 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Kapa‘a Beach Park.
Another inspection will take place Oct. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Big Kmart parking lot.
The inspections are free and open to the public.
For more information on car seat inspections, people are asked to call the Traffic Safety Unit at 241-1612.
Visit www.safercar.gov for more information on increasing a child’s car seat safety.
