Child safety seat checkpoints.

[Perd Hapley]

I recently heard about one of these going on in my area.  At first it really bothered me, as I assumed it would be run like a sobriety checkpoint, with surprise inspections of child seats. Not because I have any kids, but because it would seem to be just like a random inspection of homes. That is, because child safety doesn't affect other motorists, police might as well search random homes for dangerous conditions, if they're searching cars. 

After some googling, it appears that people all over the nation are using the word "checkpoint" for what might be better described as free clinics for interested parents/guardians.

http://www.google.com/search?q=checkpoint+child+safety&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a


But in searching for more specific information about the local checkpoint, I found these little gems:

http://www.co.st-louis.mo.us/scripts/PD/press/view.cfm?ViewMe=15655

The St. Louis County Police Department announced today that they are joining with other law enforcement agencies statewide during the week of September 19 through September 25, 2010 for an aggressive Child Passenger Safety Week Law Enforcement Campaign to crack down on Missouri's child safety seat law violators and to reduce highway fatalities and injuries to children.

http://www.stlouiscaraccidentlawyerblog.com/2010/09/child-passenger-safety-week-em.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+StLouisCarAccidentLawyerBlogCom+%28St.+Louis+Car+Accident+Lawyer+Blog%29

As part of the NHTSA campaign, St. Louis law enforcement will be stopping motorists to check for child restraint violations.

This article from the venerable Post-Dispatch portrayed a much less invasive program.

St. Louis County police will focus on looking for child restraint violations during normal patrols and will devote overtime shifts to the effort, as well, said officer Scott Roach of the highway safety unit.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_f24c7d05-60b6-5e21-bcc5-016850c86f64.html

Boy, I hope the Dispatch is correct.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

not sure about there but they run 2 types of deal here  one is where folk come in and learn or get help getting their seat in right

the others are where they look in and bust ya if the kids not in a seat or in one no buckle  or just one of two buckles etc.  you'd be amazed at how ingenious folks are at lousing up something as simple as a child seat

[sanglant]

with up to eight yearolds, being required to be in boosterseats. the kids are more than capable of unbuckling the belts once the car is moving.

and for that matter, are patrol cars carrying scales now?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

my 3 year old can unbuckle  she damn well better not

[209]

Many PDs around here have a officer "certified" in teaching parents how to put a seat in a car and the correct way to buckle the kid in.  They do it as a Community Policing thing and have Car Seat Check-up Events and and Inspection Stations.  The parents go to those voluntarily.

"Click it or Ticket it" type programs sometimes branches off into more focus on child seats.  I don't do "Click It or Ticket It".  Obviously, those are usually run as seat belt checkpoints.  Luckily, those are an extra duty assignment and not something I take part in.  My stats for enforcement of that violation are very low- some might say non-existent. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

fire depts do it here too

[Gowen]

Most child car seats have an expiration date on them now.  So if you get into an accident and your child dies or is injured, you can't sue the maker if the seat is expired.  I wonder if these inspections will nail you if you are reusing your 5 yo's old care seat with your 2 yo?