San Mateo, CA – September
9, 2026-The San Mateo Police Department (SMPD) encourages all parents
and caregivers to make sure their children are riding safely by using
the correct car seats, booster seats and properly fitted seat belts.
This annual campaign takes place from September 21-27 and aims to raise
awareness about the importance of car seat safety and proper
installation.
On
September 26, from 9:00am to 1:00pm, SMPD will have certified child
passenger safety technicians available at 200 Franklin Pkwy, San Mateo,
to check car seat installations. The technicians will teach
parents and caregivers how to install the car seat correctly, as well
as educate them on the appropriate seat based on the child’s age and
size.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA), nearly half of car seats (46%) are misused.
Properly installed car seats have been shown to reduce fatal injury
crashes by 71% for infants under a year old and by 54% for toddlers
ages 1 through 4.
Current California law requires
all children under 2 years old to ride in a rear-facing car seat,
unless the child is 40 or more pounds or is 40 or more inches tall.
Once a child reaches these milestones, all children under the age of 8
years old are still required to be secured in a car seat or booster
seat, in the back seat. Children 8 and older, or who are at least 4
feet 9 inches tall, may be secured by a booster seat, but at a minimum
must be secured by a safety belt.
As of January 1, 2027, AB 435 requires children ages 8 to 16 years old to pass all steps of the “Five-Step Test”`
before they can safely use a seat belt without a booster seat. Parents
and caregivers are encouraged to keep children in the proper rear or
forward-facing seat as long as possible and use the Five-Step Test as a
guide, before it becomes law in 2027, to determine if their child is
big enough to safely use a seat belt without a booster seat.
Visit www.gosafelyca.org for more traffic safety information.
Funding
for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of
Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
