Car Seat Safety Event Held in La Grange

Fayette County AgriLife teamed up with TxDOT and several other local agencies to offer a child safety seat inspection event in La Grange on Thursday, April 21. The event took place in the parking lot of Walmart Supercenter in La Grange. La Grange Police Department, Texas Highway Patrol, AirEvac Lifeteam, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Cen-Tex Family Services all assisted with the event. The event was free to the public. Certified technicians inspected car seats to make sure they were secured to seats and fitted properly. Any seats deemed unsafe were replaced free of charge. Texas AgriLife said it has inspected more than 32,000 car seat since the program began in 1999 with a nearly 99 percent rate of misuse. Texas law requires all children under age eight to be secured in a child safety seat (unless they are taller than 4’9”). AgriLife recommends children over eight years old but not yet 4’9” tall to ride in a booster seat. Rear-facing seats are the safest, especially for infants and children under two years of age. Pictured above are (back, from left) James Wimbley of AirEvac Lifeteam, La Grange Police Chief David Gilbreath, Trooper Cameron Janda of the Texas Highway Patrol, (front) Theresa Parma of TxDOT, Jessica Ramirez of Cen-Tex Family Services, Angela Santos and her son Sol Santos, Veronica Canahan of Cen-Tex Family Services and Fayette County AgriLife Extension Agent Sally Garrett Photo by Andy Behlen