By Michael V. Hannigan/HCN
The Streak is up to 17 as of Monday. According to TxDOT, at least one person has died on Texas roads every day since Nov. 7, 2000 … that’s 17 years of carnage.
TxDOT Executive Director James Bass said, “According to this website, 94 percent of these deadly crashes are due to driver error, things like distracted driving, speeding and drunk driving.”
It is dangerous out there — the number of dead during The Streak is nearing 60,000. Despite it making a small dent in your car finance, you need to keep yourself and your passengers safe.
The Henderson County AgriLife Extension office is offering residents a chance to ensure their children’s safety with a Car Seat Checkup scheduled for 1-4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14, in the Athens Walmart parking lot.
“As a parent, my children’s safety has always been my first priority, I had done my research about the safest seats to purchase, read the manuals and thought I had installed their car seats correctly, I was able to get a vehicle seat stroller combo” AgriLife Extension Agent Carolyn Tyler said. “But after becoming a Child Passenger Safety Technician last year, I learned that I had been unknowingly putting my kids at risk everytime they buckled up due to some common mistakes that I had made.”
Car seat installation errors are so common that three out of four are installed incorrectly, she said.
“As a Child Passenger Safety Technician, I want to see those numbers change and empower parents and caregivers to be able to get a correct car seat install every time,” Tyler said.
When you come to the event on Nov. 14, please bring your child and know their height and weight. You will learn the proper way to use a child safety seat for your child. Every child is different and so each parent must learn to properly secure their child.
“Each family we work with at the car seat check-up event will get their child’s car seat checked for recalls and expiration dates, we will also measure the child to ensure that they are in the right seat for their age and stage of development,” Tyler said. “And most importantly, each family will leave with the confidence to be able to install their car seats correctly everytime.”
If you have any questions, please call Tyler at 903-675-6130.