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Car seat safety inspections April 30

Staff Reports

More then 53,000 children die nationwide in car crashes each year. Many of these deaths can be avoided. On Sunday, April 30, there will be a free car seat inspection at North Tahoe Regional Park in Tahoe Vista from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to ensure that your car seat is installed properly.

Rarely do we pack our children up in the car, drive off and expect that we will be involved in a wreck. Yet, eight out of 10 car seats are installed incorrectly and a correctly installed car seat can reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent.

On June 15, 1999, 11-month old Truckee infant Luke Schaffner was killed in a car crash on Highway 89 North at Alder Creek Road. Although it will never really be known if a properly installed car seat would have changed the outcome, but it is known that there were some installation mistakes. The tragedy devastated the family and community. Many local parents began talking and found that most of their children’s car seats were not installed properly.



As a result of this tragedy, Luke’s parents, Jim and Kristi Schaffner, decided to take action and get the word out to local parents with young children about the importance of the proper use of child safety seats. On Oct. 10, 1999, Truckee welcomed its 1st Annual Children’s Safety Day with overwhelming attendance.

For the Schaffners, a once-a-year event is not enough. They decided that Truckee is not the only place in the Lake Tahoe region that needs information on car seat safety, so another event has been organized.



The public is invited to have their child’s car seat checked by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), trained and certified car seat inspectors.

For information about this Inspection call: The Luke Schaffner Memorial Foundation at (530) 582-5781.


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