The City of New Haven and the city’s health department highlighted the importance of children being properly secured in vehicles during National Child Passenger Safety week.
In a press conference held on Wednesday with city officials and health department officials, the health program director with the New Haven Health Department reminded families of the importance of having the correct car seat and ensuring it is installed properly.
“Car seats save lives. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration reports that over 11,000 children under the age of five have been saved by child safety restraints,” Tempestt Latham said.
Nationwide in 2022, there were 756 children killed in passenger vehicles and over 120,000 were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
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“In New Haven, there were 1,0009 crashes involving children under 18 and at least 70 times, a child was not restrained," Mayor Justin Elicker said.
Elicker added that although the number of traffic fatalities have gone down in New Haven year over year, they will continue to make streets safer for residents.
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“That is why we work around the 3 E’s. Education, to educate drivers about why they should be following the law and educate drivers about the resources available. Engineering, changing the structure of our streets to effectively force people to slow down and we’ve done so much work around the city and continue to do. Everything from speed humps, to raised crosswalks to major redesign to some of our major corridors to ensure there’s a safer pedestrian cycling infrastructure. The third E is enforcement. We have increased the number of police units focusing on traffic safety,” Elicker said.
On Saturday, the New Haven Health Department will host a National Car Seat Check Day to help families install their car seats from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 424 Chapel St.
Stephanie Piña, a certified car seat safety technician with the New Haven Health Department, provided some tips for parents.
- Read the instructions of your car seat manual and car manual
- Register your car seat with its manufacturer, in case of a safety recall
- Do not rush to the next seat, make sure the seat is based on child’s age and weight
