This article originally appeared on wric.com
A Thanksgiving Safety Fair will be held this week to offer free child safety seat inspections ahead of the anticipated holiday travel peak — and 8News got a chance to speak with two people closely involved with the event.
The Richmond Ambulance Authority, AAA and DRIVE SMART Virginia are hosting the Thanksgiving Safety Fair on Wednesday, Nov. 20 and Thursday, Nov. 21 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
On Wednesday, the fair will take place at the Target located at 7107 Forest Hill Avenue and on Thursday it will change location to the Walmart Supercenter at 2410 Sheila Lane.
The event will feature fun activities as well as crucial safety information, including child safety seat inspections — with their goal being to inspect at least 50 car seats.
Good Morning Richmond anchors Autumn Childress and Delaney Hall had the opportunity to speak with Mark Tenia from the Richmond Ambulance Authority and Rich Jacobs from DRIVE SMART Virginia in the studio today about their upcoming safety event.
“We’re going to have certified car seat technicians there to make sure that your most precious cargo, which is your children, are protected and make sure that the car seats are installed correctly,” Tenia said.
For those that are planning to attend, Tenia urged participants to bring the owner’s manual for the seat, so it can be better ensured that everything is being installed correctly.
Tenia also outlined some of the common mistakes that parents make regarding the installation of child safety seats, including misusing seatbelt latch systems.
Jacobs provided viewers and potential participants with some statistics related to why an event like this is important to keeping drivers and children safe.
“Virginia right now has the worst seat belt use rate in the contiguous united states,” Jacobs said. Where it’s 73% [and] the national average is 92%, so we’re almost 20% lower than the national average.”
