Go to a Car Seat Safety Clinic Near You

I would suggest to all parents especially first-time parents to attend and look for car seat clinics in your area. As we all know, improper installation of car seats is up there if not the number cause of serious injuries and fatalities in car crashes involving children. Just to be really sure, check out and go to a safety clinic nearby. Spring is coming and usually it's the time of the year that car seat installation clinics are held.

From Safe Kids WorldWide,

"Car seat installation clinics are successful in helping parents and caregivers properly restrain children in back seats, but more effort needs to be made to reach underserved communities. Based on data from car seat checkup events conducted in 29 states in February 2005, Safe Kids found that parents successfully changed their behavior and retained their child passenger safety knowledge six weeks after receiving hands-on instruction. At a second child safety seat checkup, 45 percent more seats were properly installed by the parents than at the first instructional event."

In Canada,

For those in the Toronto area of Canada, check out the numbers below I took from this site .

YORK REGION CHILD SEAT CLINICS
Contact York Region Health Department by phone at 1-800-361-5653 or on the web at www.region.york.on.ca

DURHAM REGION CHILD SEAT CLINICS
Contact Durham Region Health Department by phone at 1-800-841-2729 or on the web at www.region.durham.on.ca. Or contact Durham regional Police at www.drps.ca.

PEEL REGION CAR SEAT CLINICS
Call the Peel Help Line at (905) 799-7700 to find out about appointments.

For those in British Columbia,

• BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation/ICBC Child Passenger Safety Program (604) 298-5107 or 1-877-274-5551

For those in Alberta,
• Capital Health
Edmonton: (780) 408-5465; Calgary: (403) 943-5465; elsewhere: 1-866-408-5465
• Or contact your local community health centre

In the US,

Check out the NHTSA website and Safe Kids USA

Of course, this article might be dated by the time you read it and the sites or phone numbers I mentioned might not be available anymore. To look for the latest information about car seat clinics near you, it's always wise to check with your local newspapers or the police. You can also check out Google and look for local results there.