Rocky Mountain House protective services will be offering a free car seat check clinic Sept. 18 at the The Brick (5128 50 St.) parking lot from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

Kayla Whissell, community peace officer with the Town of Rocky Mountain House says the clinic will be a judgment-free, ticket-free occasion, in which the main goal is to educate the public on proper car seat configuration.

The first thing to be evaluated is to make sure that the child is properly fitted in the car seat, says Whissell, because it then gives officers a good idea of what changes and modifications, if any, are necessary.

Other inspection items include making sure the child actually fits the car seat, that the harness is properly secured, that the recline level on the car seat is proper, and making sure the car seat in general is installed correctly, says Whissell.

If any parent or caregiver is in doubt about their car seat, Whissell says they need not worry before attending the clinic, as no tickets or penalties will be issued.

“It is an educational event only,” says Whissell. “The purpose of these clinics is to help parents help grandparents make sure that their child is as safe as possible”. 

A new parent herself, Whissell says she, at times, didn’t know what to do with her car seat beyond reading the instruction manual. However, after receiving the training offered at the clinic, she realized there were indeed areas for improvement. 

It will be the first time the Town of Rocky Mountain House has offered such a clinic, says Whissell, and will feature a nationally-certified child passenger seat technician, who has the ability to inspect car seats and give general advice.

In her role as peace officer, Whissell says she unfortunately has come across egregious safety violations when it comes to children in passenger vehicles.

“Things that I have seen are just a child not fastened or secured in any way. They’re just placed in a bucket seat,” says Whissell. “I have also seen children in the front seat. When I’m saying children, I’m talking infants just in the front seat, not secured.” 

She adds the penalty for not having a child properly secured is a $162 violation ticket.

A common question is if parents can have a second-hand car seat, to which Whissell says, you can.

“So you can purchase seats that are used. Now of course there are cautions that come with that,” says Whissell. “Just like purchasing a motorcycle helmet or a bike helmet. If you don’t know the person and you don’t know the history of it, I would strongly advise not to purchase something that you do not know the history of.” 

If purchasing a used car seat, Whissell advises people check tags to make sure it is a Canadian-approved safe car seat, as well as looking at expiry dates printed on the seat to make sure it is still valid.

Seats that are past the expiry date must be discarded, she says.

Whissell says the clinic on the 18th is fully booked at this time, however there is a waitlist which will get filled at a first-come first-serve basis.

To book your appointment for the clinic, call the Community Peace Officers Complaint Line at 403-846-4268, or email directly at kwhissell@trmh.ca.

(Photo by Rocky Mountain House Protective Services)