The RSA’s free Check it Fits service is coming back to Mayo

The Road Safety Authority has announced that the face-to-face child car seat checking service – Check it Fits – is back on the road visiting locations around the country, and is coming to Mayo next week.

Car seats may seem simple to install, but the installation is often easy to get wrong.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) have found that almost a third of seats fitted incorrectly needed major adjustments.

To help address this problem, the RSA Check it Fits service will be visiting to help parents and ensure car seats and restraints are correctly fitted.

Ron Richardson, lead checker for the RSA, commented: “While the RSA’s experience with its Check it Fits service shows that half of child car seats are fitted incorrectly, worryingly, it found that 30% of these needed a major adjustment to fix them. For example, the seat being excessively loose so as to make the fitting almost ineffective.

“However, 67% were minor adjustments – for example, the fitting being loose or a twisted seatbelt.

“Having a correctly fitted car seat is a simple measure parents, grandparents and guardians can take to ensure children are safe while travelling by car.

“I would encourage people to visit the Check it Fits service when it comes to Mayo and give yourself the peace of mind that your children are travelling safely.”

The service takes between 10-15 minutes and runs from 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. It is free of charge and offers parents and guardians reassurance that their child is safe while travelling in the car. It is a walk-in service, with no appointment needed.

The Mayo dates and locations are as follows: Tuesday, July 9 – Smyth's Toys, Claremorris (F12 W2T1); Wednesday, July 10 – Totally Toys, Castlebar (F23 DH24); Thursday, July 11 – Toymaster, Ballina (F26 A4X6).

For more information on Check it Fits, visit www.rsa.ie/checkitfits.