Verde Valley News – Verde Valley Fire District was recently awarded a grant for the FFY 2025 in the amount of $14,433.00 from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) to continue their child car seat safety program. Thanks to GOHS, the District expects to provide approximately 225 child car seats to those in need in the community.
The District’s car seat program provides car seats at no cost to low-income families. Trained Car Seat Technicians install the seats and provide instructions to parents and caregivers about the proper installation. This instruction is also provided, free of charge, to anyone who has a child car seat and needs help to properly install it.
Verde Valley Fire District strives to hold quarterly car seat clinics, where our Car Seat Technicians will install child safety seats, check that seats are installed properly, instruct families on proper installation techniques, and reiterate the importance of using restraints for children and adults in vehicles. These services will also be provided at Station 31, 2700 East Godard Road, Cottonwood, AZ, 86326, by appointment.
Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death among children ages 1 to 19. Over half of all child car seats are incorrectly installed or are the wrong size for the child. To be effective, child car seats need to be the correct size and be correctly installed. Children should be at least 4’9”, 8 years of age or older, and pass the 5-step test below, before they stop using a booster seat.
1. Does the shoulder portion of the seat belt lay mid chest, mid shoulder?
2. Is the child able to sit with their bottom all the way to the back of the seat?
3. Does the child’s knees bend at the edge of the seat with their feet on the floor?
4. Is the lap portion of the seat belt across the child’s upper thighs and hips?
5. Can the child stay in this position for the whole trip?
If you answer “no” to any one of the questions above, your child still needs a booster seat.