HAMPTON ROADS — The annual Drive Safe Hampton Roads “Old, Used, Borrowed and Abused Child Safety Seat Round-Up” program kicked off Feb. 1.
DSHR notes that for over 35 years, it has joined forces with community partners to collect old, used and potentially unsafe child safety seats. The program also serves to educate parents and caregivers about the possible dangers of using car seats past the date recommended by the manufacturer, using secondhand seats and seats with missing parts or no traceable recall information, it adds.
According to the National Highway Safety Administration, 556 children aged 0-14-years-old were killed in vehicle crashes in 2023, with 191 of them unrestrained. Where restraint use is known, 2,134 children aged 0-12-years-old were restrained and survived the crash.
For these reasons, DSHR and its community partners — Walmart, AAA Tidewater Virginia, Hoffman Beverage Co., Waste Management of Virginia, Huffman & Huffman-Brothers in Law, and the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters — are encouraging everyone to “round-up” their old child safety seats and turn them in for a “reward” throughout the month of February.
The goal for the Round-Up is to convince parents and caregivers to turn in old, used or potentially dangerous safety seats so they are not resold or given to unsuspecting parents or caregivers, DSHR explained.
As an incentive, individuals can receive a $5 gift card for each seat turned in (limit 2 rewards per person). Safety seats can be dropped off at Walmart Supercenter select locations or at any of the eight AAA Tidewater Virginia locations throughout the month of February.
All collected safety seats will be recycled by Waste Management of Virginia Inc. Not only will recycling these seats eliminate the potential danger to children, but it will also provide positive benefits to the community by utilizing a “greener” alternative for disposal, DSHR said.
DSHR reminds residents Virginia law requires all children under the age of eight be properly restrained in an approved Department of Transportation child restraint — a law applies to any driver, not just the parent or guardian, in any vehicle, on any highway in Virginia. In addition, all children ages eight through seventeen years of age must be properly restrained in a safety belt while seated in any seating position in a vehicle.
For more information, visit drivesafehr.org or call 757-498-2562.
