CAR SEAT PROGRAM
Here, you can find information on choosing the right car seat for your child's height and weight, how to correctly install it based on manufacturer instructions and Georgia law and where to go to help if you need assistance installing your car seat or want to know if your current car seat is installed correctly.
The City of Gray Fire Department recently received a check for $11,019.00 from the Morris Bank Community Foundation for their car seat community safety project. The donation will allow the department to purchase 50 new car seats and bases to serve Jones County families during times of need.
The Car Seat Safety Program is a service for residents of Jones County that allows the Fire Department to check parents’ car seats and ensure that children in the community are traveling safely every day. This includes scheduled checks at the fire house, car seat check events, and responses to vehicle accidents involving children in car seats. Heather Johnson, Captain of the City of Gray Fire Department, said, “One in three children are riding in a car seat that is expired, installed incorrectly, incorrectly sized for the child, or in which the child is placed incorrectly.” The goal of the program is to train fire and law enforcement officers to become instructors for car seat use, and to provide citizens with a professional resource to reach out to for assistance. “This donation from the Morris Bank Community Foundation is greatly appreciated and will serve our community well,” says Johnson. “It helps us reach our goal of educating our citizens to help prevent future harm or injury, especially involving children.”
For reference, the text of Georgia's child passenger safety seat laws can be found at O.C.G.A. 40-8-76. All children under the age of eight are required to be properly restrained in an appropriate child passenger safety seat or booster seat.
The City of Gray Fire Department offers car seat inspections as well as car seat installations. We also offer assistance in providing car seats to low income families. To qualify for assistance you would have to be a resident of Jones County, be the primary caregiver of the infant/child, and unable to purchase your own car seat. All of these services are provided based on the need of the child, availability of the car seat tech, and provided we have the required car seat in stock. In addition, these services are provided by appointment only. To schedule an appointment for a car seat inspection, installation, or to ask a question regarding assistance with a getting a car seat, please fill out the form below.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Should I buy a used car seat? Safe Kids Worldwide reminds to be careful using hand-me-downs or buying children's products at a secondhand shop or yard sale.
Can I still use my car seat if the vehicle it is in is involved in an accident? It is always recommended to check with the car seat manufacturer for specifications/recommendations to whether or not you may continue to use the car seat. Some manufacturers will allow continued use if there is no damage to the car seat and some will not.
Selection and Direction of Car Seat:
Rear-Facing: Infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing position to protect the spine and neck. Babies who have outgrown the rear-facing-only child restraint by size should switch to a convertible child restraint and use it rear-facing up to the highest height and weight (usually 30-45 pounds) permitted by the manufacturer.
-At a minimum, children MUST be age 1 and 20 pounds before facing forward.
-The AAP recommends that children ride rear-facing until the age of 2.
-NHTSA and Safe Kids recommend rear-facing as long as possible, using a rear-facing car seat until he or she reaches the top height and weight limit allowed by the manufacturer. This may be beyond 2 years of age.
-When is my child too large for the rear-facing only seat? A child is too large for the child restraint when the child's head is within 1 inch of the top of the rear facing car seat, the child exceeds the car seats weight or height limits, or as otherwise described in the manual.
Forward-facing: Once the upper limits of the forward-facing harness are reached, the child can move to a belt-positioning booster. The child is too tall if their ears are above the top of the car seat or their shoulders are above the top harness slots or as otherwise described in the manual.
Harness: Harness straps must pass the pinch test: When the buckled straps are pinched together at the shoulder, there should be no slack or extra webbing. The harness retainer clip must sit at the child's armpit level, and the straps must be threaded properly through the clip. Rear-facing car seat harness straps should pass through the slots at or below the child's shoulders according to manufacturer's instructions. The forward-facing car seat harness straps should pass through the slots at or above the child's shoulders according to manufacturer's instructions.
Installation: Tether, tether, tether to improve forward-facing crash performance!
-LATCH or Seat Belt? Both are equally safe when used correctly. Do not use both the lower anchors and seat belt at the same time unless approved by the manufacturer (mostly in booster mode). Be mindful of lower anchor weight limits.
-Forward-facing harnessed car seat? Use a top tether according to manufacturer instructions, whether using the seat belt or lower anchors, up to the upper weight limit of the tether anchorage in the vehicle. You can find this on a sticker on the car seat, in the car seat and vehicle owner's manual and in the LATCH manual.
-Identify how the seat belt system locks. Test the be sure it stays tight and locked.
-Using LATCH? Be sure the seating position is approved. A common error is using lower anchors in the center when not allowed by the vehicle manufacturer! Be mindful of weight limits.
-Belts (lower anchor or seat belt) must pass through the car seat exactly where and how the manufacturer directs.
-Properly installed car seats must not move more than 1" side to side or front to back when held at the belt path.
