Alarming statistics released by Kidsafe found that nine out of ten Victorian children, including those in Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay, are not safe in the car.
Parents and carers are being urged to make sure their child car restraints are installed correctly.
The survey of more than 9200 cars found that 90 per cent of child car restraints are either incorrectly installed or used.
More than 50 per cent needing adjusting and 37 per cent had to be re-installed.
If a parent were to crash, the risk of life-threatening injuries to children is up to six times greater when the child car restraints aren’t secured properly.
To help improve kid safety in cars, Victorian families have access to the Safe Seats, Safe Kids program- which offers free fittings and safety checks by accredited child car restraint fitters.
The program is run by Kidsafe Victoria and was backed by a $4 million state government investment to provide families with free appointments to ensure their child care restraints are correctly installed.
Health minister Martin Foley said the initiative was all about keeping children safe in cars.
“Keeping kids safe in the car is every parent’s priority when driving, and these free inspections are helping parents do just that,” Mr Foley said.
Kidsafe Victoria has also launched a new free online e-learning tool to help parents make their child car restraints safe.
Details: safeseatssafekids.com.au/.
